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248209

The spermicidal effect of the honeybee Apis mellifera venom and its major component melittin

Article

Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Zoology

Abstract

Several spermicide products are currently used containing detergent as the active ingredient. Those molecules showed a bad effect on normal vaginal epithelial cells and microflora. They also increase the possibility of cervical or vaginal infections or ulceration. In this study, the possible effects of crude bee venom (BV) of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) and its common bioactive peptides on human sperm motility were evaluated in vitro. Serially diluted BV and its bioactive peptides at noncytotoxic concentrations were tested for sperm immobilization by Sander-Cramer assay. The sperm viability test and the hypo-osmotic swelling were used to check the vitality and the integrity of the sperm membrane. Sperm morphological alterations were evaluated by a light microscope and scanning electron microscope. Results showed that BV at 3.0 μg/ml concentration was significantly immobilized and killed 100% (1.0 million) of the human sperm within 20 seconds. Similarly, the small peptide MLT showed immediate and complete sperm immobilization at 6.7 µg/ml. Moreover, apamin induced a moderate effect on sperm motility at 10.0 μg/ml, whereas mast cell degranulating peptide showed no effect on sperm motility up to 10.0 μg/ml. In conclusion, the current study indicates that BV and MLT have a spermicidal effect and exert their spermicidal activity through a direct lysis effect on the plasma membranes of sperm heads.

DOI

10.21608/absb.2022.138288.1185

Keywords

Spermicides, Human sperm, sperm motility, Bee venom, Apis mellifera, Melittin

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Abdel-Hafez

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Molecular biology research lab., Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science (Assiut), Al-Azhar University, Egypt.

Email

mohamedabdelhakeem430@gmail.com

City

Al-Mynia

Orcid

0000-0002-7691-703X

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Abdel Rahman

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Egypt.

Email

mohamed_hassanain@science.suez.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Hesham

Last Name

Elshaer

MiddleName

S.

Affiliation

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt.

Email

dr.heshamelshaer@riyadcentre.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Moustafa

Last Name

Sarhan

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Molecular biology research lab., Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science (Assiut), Al-Azhar University, Egypt.

Email

msarhan@azhar.edu.eg

City

Assiut

Orcid

0000-0003-0698-8438

Volume

33

Article Issue

Issue 2-C

Related Issue

38050

Issue Date

2022-12-01

Receive Date

2022-05-21

Publish Date

2022-12-01

Page Start

99

Page End

110

Print ISSN

1110-2535

Online ISSN

2636-3305

Link

https://absb.journals.ekb.eg/article_248209.html

Detail API

https://absb.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=248209

Order

8

Type

Original Article

Type Code

520

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Al-Azhar Bulletin of Science

Publication Link

https://absb.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The spermicidal effect of the honeybee Apis mellifera venom and its major component melittin

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023