Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37880739›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2023

Melittin as a safe compound to BALB/c mice immune system; a tiered approach immunotoxicity screening.

Gholamreza Karimi, Sina Fatemi, Bahram Memar, Mohammad-Bagher Khorrami, Arian Amali, Mahmood Sadeghi, Seyed-Alireza Esmaeili, Bamdad Riahi-Zanjani

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. An in-depth review on antimicrobial efficacy of melittin in vivo.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026
    Review
  2. Therapeutic Bioactivity Exerted by theMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Gholamreza KarimiPharmaceutical Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Sina FatemiSchool of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Bahram MemarCancer Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Mohammad-Bagher KhorramiSocial Security Organization, 17th Shahrivar Hospital, Mashhad, Iran.
Arian AmaliStudent Research Committee, Paramedical Department, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch, Mashhad, Iran.
Mahmood SadeghiMedical Toxicology and Drug Abuse Research Center (MTDRC), Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
Seyed-Alireza EsmaeiliImmunology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Bamdad Riahi-ZanjaniMedical Toxicology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. riahib@mums.ac.ir.
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences · IRBirjand University of Medical Sciences · IRIslamic Azad University, Mashhad · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMaintenance of immune system integrity is a vital requirement to protect human body against pathogens/cancers. Natural compounds have long been used due to their benefits for the immune system. One of which is bee venom that contains a peptide called melittin having antimicrobial and anticancer effects. Since a limited number of studies regarding the effects of melittin on the immune system have been carried out, we aimed to evaluate the effects of melittin on BALB/c mice immune system parameters.

methodsFemale BALB /c mice were treated intraperitoneally (i.p) with 0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg doses of melittin for 14 days (5 doses per week). The negative control group received i.p normal saline whereas the positive controls received i.p 20 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (CYP). Immunological parameters such as hematological parameters, delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), hemagglutination titer (HA), spleen cellularity, splenocytes proliferation, as well as spleen and bone marrow histopathological assessment were evaluated.

resultsOur findings showed that melittin has no gross pathological effect on the spleen and bone marrow. It was also demonstrated that melittin has no any significant effect on hematological parameters. Melittin did not cause any significant changes to proliferation response of splenocytes to PHA and LPS, spleen cellularity, DTH response, as well as the production of anti-SRBC antibodies. According to our results, melittin at 0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg doses could not induce significant changes on immune parameters and as a result, melittin was found to be safe for the mice immune system.

Indexed as

Hypersensitivity, DelayedMelittenAnimalsFemaleHumansImmune SystemMiceMice, Inbred BALB CSpleenMelittenCellular immunityHumoral immunityImmune systemMelittin

Identifiers

PMID37880739
PMCPMC10598946
OpenAlexW4387940086

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.