Utilization of apitherapy in allergic asthma: A systematic review of clinical and preclinical studies

This systematic review aimed to summarize the benefit of apitherapy in human and animal models of asthma.

The procedures in this review were performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis 2020 protocol, where MEDLINE, ProQuest, and EBSCOhost databases were used to obtain eligible studies dating to 2023. Furthermore, the risk of bias was assessed using Risk of Bias Tool 2.0 (RoB-2) for randomized-control trials and Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory Animal Experimentation's RoB for animal studies.

A total of 12 studies were included in the review based on the predetermined eligibility criteria, consisting of 4 human and 8 animal model reports. Among the four human studies, two had a low risk, while the other two had some concerns of bias. In the case of eight animal model of asthma, a total of three domains had a high risk of bias. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory properties of apitherapy were demonstrated by its capacity to inhibit NF-κB, nuclear factor of activated T cells, and IgE antibodies, leading to decreased production of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-6, and IL-8, and an increase in IL-10 levels. These beneficial effects were reported to be associated with improvements in clinical manifestations and lung function parameters in human subjects. The use of apitherapy was also related to the restoration of airway structure, and reduction of inflammatory cell infiltration, epithelial thickness, and mucus secretion in lung tissue of animal model of asthma.

Based on the results, apitherapy was effective in improving asthma symptoms and reducing inflammation in human and animal models of asthma.