Studying the antibacterial activity of peptide fractions of royal jelly and drone brood 

Sergey V. Klychenkov, Senior lecturer of the sub-department of general biology and biochemistry, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: klychenkov@pnzgu.ru
Anastasiya D. Kruchinina, Candidate of biological sciences, associate professor of the sub-department of general biology and biochemistry, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: a.d.kruchinina@mail.ru
Larisa A. Bichurina, Microbiologist, Kuznetsk Interdistrict Children’s Hospital (346a Rabochaya street, Kuznetsk, Penza region, Russia), E-mail: buchurin69@yandex.ru
Ilia A. Sorokin, Student, Medical Institute, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: iluh30072001@yandex.ru 

Background. Today, antibiotic resistance is becoming more and more important as a factor in the use of one or another antibacterial drug in clinical practice. The widespread use of antibiotics in agriculture and the unreasonable use of these drugs for the treatment of patients increases the rate of acquisition of resistance to popular types of antibiotics among pathogenic and opportunistic strains of microorganisms, which makes it urgent to search for new molecules that have an antibacterial effect. One of the promising candidates for the role of a substitute for antibiotics, which have less pronounced side effects and have a systemic effect on the infection, are antimicrobial peptides. The aim of this research is to study the antibacterial effect of peptide fractions up to 5 kDa obtained from royal jelly and drone brood, popular products of traditional medicine. Materials and methods. The studied peptide fractions of royal jelly and drone brood were obtained using ultrafiltration, ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration methods. Antibacterial activity was assessed using the disk diffusion method against strains of S. aureus, E. coli, S. pyogenes, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis and E. cloacae and by studying the effect on the total dehydrogenase and catalase activity of strains of E. coli and S. aureus. Results and conclusions. It was shown that the studied peptide fractions do not demonstrate direct antibacterial activity at the studied concentrations, however, they affect the enzymatic activity of bacteria, which proves that the peptides of royal jelly and drone brood up to 5 kDa contain molecules that affect the intracellular processes of microorganisms. 

peptides, bee products, royal jelly, drone brood, antibacterial effect 

Klychenkov S.V., Kruchinina A.D., Bichurina L.A., Sorokin I.A. Studying the antibacterial activity of peptide fractions of royal jelly and drone brood. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. Meditsinskie nauki = University proceedings. Volga region. Medical sciences. 2022;(4):97–106. (In Russ.). doi:10.21685/2072-3032-2022-4-10