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Review
. 2024 Jan 29;16(3):393.
doi: 10.3390/nu16030393.

Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Royal Jelly in Metabolic Disorders and Gastrointestinal Diseases

Hesham R El-Seedi  1   2   3 , Suzy Salama  4 , Aida A Abd El-Wahed  5 , Zhiming Guo  2 , Alessandro Di Minno  6   7 , Maria Daglia  6   7 , Chuan Li  8 , Xiao Guan  9   10 , Daniele Giuseppe Buccato  6 , Shaden A M Khalifa  11 , Kai Wang  12
Affiliations
Review

Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Royal Jelly in Metabolic Disorders and Gastrointestinal Diseases

Hesham R El-Seedi et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Metabolic disorders, encompassing diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, etc., pose a substantial global health threat, with rising morbidity and mortality rates. Addressing these disorders is crucial, as conventional drugs often come with high costs and adverse effects. This review explores the potential of royal jelly (RJ), a natural bee product rich in bioactive components, as an alternative strategy for managing metabolic diseases. RJ exhibits diverse therapeutic properties, including antimicrobial, estrogen-like, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, anticancer, and antioxidant effects. This review's focus is on investigating how RJ and its components impact conditions like diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and gastrointestinal illnesses. Evidence suggests that RJ serves as a complementary treatment for various health issues, notably demonstrating cholesterol- and glucose-lowering effects in diabetic rats. Specific RJ-derived metabolites, such as 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), also known as the "Queen bee acid," show promise in reducing insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. Recent research highlights RJ's role in modulating immune responses, enhancing anti-inflammatory cytokines, and suppressing key inflammatory mediators. Despite these promising findings, further research is needed to comprehensively understand the mechanisms underlying RJ's therapeutic effects.

Keywords: bioactive compounds; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes mellitus; gastrointestinal diseases; royal jelly.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanism of action of royal jelly in diabetes mellitus (DM), preclinical and clinical models [28,29,30,31,32]. LDL: low-density lipoprotein; SOD: superoxide dismutase, IL-6: interlukin-6; MDA: malondialdehyde; GSH-Px: glutathione peroxidase; ApoB/ApoA-I: apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A-I; AdipoR1: adiponectin receptor-1; CAT: catalase; p-GSK3β: glycogen synthase kinase 3β; p-AKT: phosphorylated Akt; PI3K: phosphoinositide 3-kinase; IL-1β: interleukin-1β; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; NF-κB: nuclear factor kappa-B; COX-2: cyclooxygenase-2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Major classes of natural products (A–C) flavonoids; (D) fatty acids; (E) peptide; and (F) coumestans identified in royal jelly with potential anti-diabetes properties.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Treatment with royal jelly suppressed the rise of CD3+, CD5+, CD8+ and CD45+ T-cells, pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1β, TNF–α, and the expression of major inflammatory mediators (COX-2 and NF-κB) in the colon of rats with colitis. IL-1β: interleukin-1β; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; NF-κB: nuclear factor kappa-B; COX-2: cyclooxygenase-2.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Potential activity of royal jelly in the most common gastrointestinal diseases.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The mechanism of the antihypertensive activity of royal jelly.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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