Beneficial Effect of Bee Venom Therapy as an Adjunctive Treatment of Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis

Nicolas Daniel  Widjanarko; Felicia Grizelda  Suryatenggara; Putu Clara Shinta  Gelgel; Joseph Izmardha  Couteau; Nisrina Salsabila  Firmansyah; Laila Fitria  Djaimi; Nabila Cindi  Ediwi

doi:10.18502/tim.v10i1.18225

Nicolas Daniel Widjanarko Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, South Jakarta, Indonesia
Felicia Grizelda Suryatenggara Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, South Jakarta, Indonesia
Putu Clara Shinta Gelgel Faculty of Medicine, Duta Wacana Christian University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Joseph Izmardha Couteau Faculty of Medicine, Duta Wacana Christian University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Nisrina Salsabila Firmansyah Faculty of Medicine, Jember University, Indonesia
Laila Fitria Djaimi Faculty of Medicine, Riau University, Riau, Indonesia
Nabila Cindi Ediwi Faculty of Medicine, Riau University, Riau, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tim.v10i1.18225

Keywords: Acupuncture therapy; Apitherapy; Bee venom therapy; Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

The second most prevalent progressive neurodegenerative disorder in the world is Parkinson's disease (PD). According to many studies, the majority of the existing PD therapies are symptomatic and may result in motor problems, such as dyskinesia and fluctuations. To overcome these complications, various reports have proposed the use of bee venom as an effective treatment. Bee venom can suppress the neuroinflammation effect in PD mouse models, indicating its potential as an effective adjuvant treatment for the disease in humans. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of bee venom treatment (BVT) as a PD adjuvant. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 standards were followed during the processes. In addition, a literature search was performed on various electronic databases, including PubMed, EBSCO, and ProQuest. After evaluating the included papers' quality using the Risk of Bias Tool 2.0 (RoB 2) as well as RoB In Non-randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I), a meta-analysis was carried out using Review Manager (RevMan) 5.4. Four publications in total have been analyzed in the systematic review as well as meta-analysis based on the inclusion criteria. The results showed that three and one articles had low and moderate risk of bias, respectively. The BDI score between the bee venom and control groups had a statistically significant p-value (SMD=-0.52, 95%CI= -0.93 to -0.11, p=0.01) according to the meta-analysis. Nevertheless, following the therapy, there were no discernible improvements in UPDRS II, III, and II+III, as well as PDQL, gait speed & number, MXE, and DCL. The findings also showed that bee venom significantly improved BDI scores in PD patients. Although the positive trends observed in other outcomes were not statistically significant, further investigation with larger cohorts is required to validate these findings.