6 research outputs found

    Antiproliferative effects of Tubi-bee propolis in glioblastoma cell lines

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    Propolis is a resin formed by a complex chemical composition of substances that bees collect from plants. Since ancient times, propolis has been used in folk medicine, due to its biological properties, that include antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitumoral and immunomodulatory activities. Glioblastoma is the most common human brain tumor. Despite the improvements in GBM standard treatment, patients’ prognosis is still very poor. The aim of this work was to evaluate in vitro the Tubi-bee propolis effects on human glioblastoma (U251 and U343) and fibroblast (MRC-5) cell lines. Proliferation, clonogenic capacity and apoptosis were analyzed after treatment with 1 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL propolis concentrations for different time periods. Additionally, glioblastoma cell lines were submitted to treatment with propolis combined with temozolomide (TMZ). Data showed an antiproliferative effect of tubi-bee propolis against glioblastoma and fibroblast cell lines. Combination of propolis with TMZ had a synergic anti-proliferative effect. Moreover, propolis caused decrease in colony formation in glioblastoma cell lines. Propolis treatment had no effects on apoptosis, demonstrating a cytostatic action. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of the antitumor effect of propolis, and the study of its individual components may reveal specific molecules with antiproliferative capacity

    Genetic structure of drone congregation areas of Africanized honeybees in southern Brazil

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    As yet, certain aspects of the Africanization process are not well understood, for example, the reproductive behavior of African and European honeybees and how the first Africanized swarms were formed and spread. Drone congregation areas (DCAs) are the ideal place to study honeybee reproduction under natural conditions since hundreds of drones from various colonies gather together in the same geographical area for mating. In the present study, we assessed the genetic structure of seven drone congregations and four commercial European-derived and Africanized apiaries in southern Brazil, employing seven microsatellite loci for this purpose. We also estimated the number of mother-colonies that drones of a specific DCA originated from. Pairwise comparison failed to reveal any population sub-structuring among the DCAs, thus indicating low mutual genetic differentiation. We also observed high genetic similarity between colonies of commercial apiaries and DCAs, besides a slight contribution from a European-derived apiary to a DCA formed nearby. Africanized DCAs seem to have a somewhat different genetic structure when compared to the European

    Island population of European honey bees in Northeastern Brazil that have survived Varroa infestations for over 30 years

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    International audienceAbstractEuropean honey bees were introduced to Fernando de Noronha Island in 1984 already infested by Varroa destructor, and since then they have survived without any control measures. In 2012, adult and brood infestation rates were measured and compared to historical records. There was no significant difference in mite levels between the values obtained in 1996 (14 mites/100 adult bees) and 2012 (16.5 mites/100 bees). The percentage of mites that reproduced in worker brood cells also was not significantly different from the data obtained in 1996. The frequency of hygienic behavior was similar to data obtained for resistant African-derived honey bees. Average fecundity decreased slightly between 1996 and 2012, but remained high. From our data, we conclude that those bees have maintained stable infestation levels for at least 16 years. Infestation rates remain high, at rates that would be fatal to honey bees in most regions of the world, but there is no Varroa-related colony mortality on the island
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