News on the Apitherapy in Lithuania

Abstract

The Lithuanian Apitherapy Society was founded in 1991 though scientific studies on bee products begun in earlier 1962 when royal jelly on the patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases was applied. In 1966 the bee venom ointment “Apitrit” was developed and applied for patients suffering from arthritis. Up to now the active society members continue to perform research on apitherapy. In this abstract we summarize the recent api-studies in Lithuania. The research group of Algirdas Baltuskevicius et al. (for details see [1], article in English) applied bee bread – honey mixture for the treatment of patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Eighteen patients (5 females and 13 males) were involved into this study and received medicament (Hepatil), nutritional supplement Livosan, special diet, and additionaly bee bread mixed with honey (1:2), 15 g twice a day 5 weeks. Patients from the control group received only medicaments and a special diet. The statistically significant reduction in serum bilirubin levels which was elevated before the treatment, as well as of ALT and AST levels (indicators of liver cell damage) were found after treatment in the group which received additionally mixture of bee bread with honey [1]. Moreover, C-reactive protein (CRP), which indicates liver inflammation, returned to the normal level. The results also showed a significant increase in the erythrocyte count and hemoglobin levels whereas leukocytes count and glucose levels were practically the same before and after the treatment. It was mentioned, that the bee bread-honey mixture was tolerated wery well. The authors conclude, that bee bread-honey mixture applied additionally with medicaments exerted a hepatoprotective effect and improved liver function in the patients with alcoholic hepatitis [1]. The study of Jurate Jankauskiene et al. (for details see [2], article in English) investigated the ocular changes in children and young people [...].