Nature 245, 163 - 164 (21 September 1973); doi:10.1038/245163a0

An Anti-Inflammatory Peptide from Bee Venom

M. E. J. BILLINGHAM^*§, J. MORLEY^¶, JENNIFER M. HANSON^†, R. A. SHIPOLINI & C. A. VERNON^‡

^§Department of Pharmacology, Guy's Hospital Medical School, London SE1
^¶Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Bute Gardens, Hammersmith, London W6
Christopher Ingold Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University College, London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1
^*Present address: Pharmaceuticals Division, ICI, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
^†Present address: The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology
^‡To whom reprint requests should be sent.

THE belief that the venom of the common honey bee, Apis mellifira, is beneficial in certain arthritic and rheumatoid conditions goes back to antiquity¹. In a study of phospholi-pase-A^2,3 we have fractionated nearly 1 kg of freeze-dried bee venom and tested all the fractions for anti-inflammatory activity. Preliminary experiments showed activity to be associated with the basic peptide fraction. The peptides were separated using 'Sephadex' G25 and G50 followed by ion-exchange chromatography using either CM 'Sephadex' C25 (pH 4.7) or SE 'Sephadex' C25 (pH 4.2).

References

1.	Beck, B., Bee Venom Therapy (Appleton-Century, New York, 1935).
2.	Shipolini, R. A., Callewaert, G. L., Cottrell, R. C., Doonan, S., and Vernon, C. A., Eur. J. Biochem., 20, 459 (1971).
3.	Shipolini, R. A., Callewaert, G. L., Cottrell, R. C., and Vernon, C. A., FEBS Lett., 1, 39 (1971).
4.	Winter, C. A., Risley, E. A., and Nuss, G. W., Proc. Soc. expl. Biol. Med., 111, 544 (1962).
5.	Billingham, M. E. J., Robinson, B. V., and Robson, J. M., Br. J. Pharmac., 35, 543 (1969).
6.	Breithaupt, H., and Habermann, E., Arch. expl. Path. Pharmak., 261, 252 (1968).
7.	Von-Haux, P., Hoppe-Seyler's Z. physiol. Chem., 350, 536 (1969).
8.	Vernon, C. A., Hanson, Jennifer M., and Brimblecombe, R. W., British Patent No. 1314823 (1969).
9.	Garlick, D. G., Aust. J. expl. Biol. med. Sci., 43, 671 (1965).
10.	Hanson, Jennifer M., Morley, J., and Soria, C., Br. J. Pharmac., 46, 537 (1972).
11.	Chayen, J., Bitensky, L., Butcher, R. G., Poulter, L. W., and Ubhi, G. S., Br. J. Derm., 82, Supplement 6, 62 (1970).
12.	Chayen, J., Bitensky, L., and Ubhi, G. S., Beitr. path. Anat., 147, 6 (1972).
13.	Newbould, B. B., Br. J. Pharmac., 21, 127 (1963).
14.	Habermann, E., and Reiz, K. G., Biochem. Z., 343, 192 (1965).
15.	Habermann, E., and Jentsch, J., Hoppe-Seyler's Z. physiol. Chem., 348, 37 (1967).
16.	Habermann, E., Ergebn. Physiol., 60, 220 (1968).
17.	Habermann, E., Recent Advances in the Pharmacology of Toxins, 53 (Pergamon Press, London, 1963).
18.	Hammeral, A. M., and Pitchler, O., Med. Clins. N. Am., 55, 2015 (1960).