Impact of bee venom and melittin on apoptosis and biotransformation in colorectal carcinoma cell lines

This study provides data about anticancer properties of bee venom and its dominant compound, melittin on colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT-116 and SW-480) in regard to their proapoptotic activity and expression of genes involved in biotransformation process. Based on results, they are strong cytotoxins, where the melittin showed also selectivity against cancer cells compared to normal, HaCat. They induce proapoptotic activity by affecting apoptosis signaling molecules (Fas receptors, caspase 9, and members of Bcl-2 family of proteins) and mainly suppress expression of genes involved in their biotransformation, suggesting their ability to develop the resistance of colorectal cancer cells.Supplementary material: [https://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/4975

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on severe asthma care in Europe: Will care change for good?

peer reviewedBackground The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has put pressure on healthcare services, forcing the reorganisation of traditional care pathways. We investigated how physicians taking care of severe asthma patients in Europe reorganised care, and how these changes affected patient satisfaction, asthma control and future care. Methods In this European-wide cross-sectional study, patient surveys were sent to patients with a physician-diagnosis of severe asthma, and physician surveys to severe asthma specialists between November 2020 and May 2021. Results 1101 patients and 268 physicians from 16 European countries contributed to the study. Common physician-reported changes in severe asthma care included use of video/phone consultations (46%), reduced availability of physicians (43%) and change to home-administered biologics (38%). Change to phone/video consultations was reported in 45% of patients, of whom 79% were satisfied or very satisfied with this change. Of 709 patients on biologics, 24% experienced changes in biologic care, of whom 92% were changed to home-administered biologics and of these 62% were satisfied or very satisfied with this change. Only 2% reported worsening asthma symptoms associated with changes in biologic care. Many physicians expect continued implementation of video/phone consultations (41%) and home administration of biologics (52%). Conclusions Change to video/phone consultations and home administration of biologics was common in severe asthma care during the COVID-19 pandemic and was associated with high satisfaction levels in most but not all cases. Many physicians expect these changes to continue in future severe asthma care, though satisfaction levels may change after the pandemic. © The authors 2022