What do we know and what we would like to know about drone homogenate
Sawczuk, Róża.; Karpinska, J.; Miltyk, W.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology
2018
Bee products have been used in natural medicine for centuries. The largest number of scientific reports focused on the properties and therapeutic action of propolis, royal jelly, honey, bee venom and pollen. Less information can be foundabout another product of beekeeping which is drone brood. Drone brood - form of bee larvae, from which drones will develop- is considered to be waste of beekeepers. Drones are responsible for the fertilization of aqueen bee, thereby prolonging bee species. In addition to reproduction, they do not perform any others important functions in the bee community, except draining food resources collected by worker bees. For this reason, the excess of the drone brood is removed from the hive by the beekeepers. Before the winter bees themselves banish the adult drones from the hive. The removal of drone brood has a function in the prevention and treatment of varroosis, bee parasitic disease caused by the Varroa destructor mites. Beekeepers and scientists have noticed that this parasite accumulates in wax cells in which young drones develop. The purpose of this work was to collect and systematize information of the drone homogenate. The text of the manuscript contains information of the chemical composition, methods of storing and preserving the brood, as well as on biological activity and application in nutrition and medicine. Biological activity of fresh brood homogenate and its lyophilized form was tested in animal and human models. Drone brood has properties to stimulate the immune system (stimulating the production of antibodies by the spleen and the immune response of T lymphocytes).It has been shown by animal studies that brood homogenate has androgenic effect and led to improve areproductive capacity. In addition, it was proved that the administration of the drone brood reduced the parameters of oxidative stress and the risk of death due to cardiovascular episode. Drone brood is characterized by a complex chemical composition, depending on its development. The research carried out showed that the lyophilized drone brood homogenate (LDBH) contains proteins (57.7g/100g), carbohydrates (17.8g/100g) and lipids (21.9g/100g). LDBH were marked with B vitamins (B2, B3, B5, B6, B12), folic acid, biotin, choline, inositol as well as high content of macroelements (potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus) and micronutrients (manganese, copper, iron, selenium). Drone brood, in addition to the listed nutrients, contains steroid hormones: testosterone, progesterone, estradiol and prolactin. In searching for information on drone brood, generally available publishing databases such as SCOPUS, Google scholar, and PubMed were used. Search words were: "drone homogenate", "drone brood", "bee brood", "drone larvae", "drone milk". Due to the number of publications available in English, information on the drone homogenate was also searched in Russian. Patent studies of agents containing drone homogenate were searched at http://patents.google.com. This work gathers information on the chemical composition, methods of storage and preservation as well as the action of the biological drone homogenate. In addition, information on the effect of the drone homogenate on animal organisms and the use of homogenate in various disease entities in humans has been provided. Manuscript also contains information on the use of the drone homogenate as a dietary and food supplement. This paper presents the most important information on the use of drone brood in folk medicine. The studies carried out with the use of animals and humans have shown that the drone brood has an adjuvant effect that improves the efficiency of the organism. Due to its high content of amino acids and proteins, it is used as a tonic and adaptogenic agent. The presence of sex hormones in the homogenate allows its use as a potency raising agent and equalizing the hormonal system in people of both sexes.