Self-association of bee propolis: Effects on pharmaceutical applications

摘要

Propolis is a resinous product collected by honeybees from various plant sources; it is widely used in traditional medicine and has been reported to have a broad spectrum of pharmacological effects (i.e., antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects). The most commonly used propolis formulations are gargles, in which propolis tinctures are diluted with water. The dilution process is accompanied by nanoprecipitation, and the propolis droplets are dispersed in the prepared gargle. In the present study, we investigated the dependence of the properties of propolis nanodispersions on the method of preparation. The particle size was found to be approximately 150 nm and was observed to decrease with increasing dilution as the zeta potential of the particles became more negative, which stabilized the dispersion. The dispersion dissolved upon alkalization and reprecipitated during acidification. The addition of salt destabilized the dispersion. The uptake of propolis from the dispersion was modeled using 1-octanol and was found to be rapid and only slightly dependent on the nanoparticle size. Propolis susceptibility tests showed that the most effective dispersion of propolis was tenfold-diluted EEP (P-80-10 and JP-80-10). The disc diffusion method was used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of chosen dispersions of propolis against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. Propolis samples with different locations of origin exhibited different effects against the strain of C. albicans.