Abstract
The recent emergence of COVID‐19 represents one of the biggest challenges facing the world today. Despite the recent attempts to understand the epidemiological pattern and pathogenesis of the disease, detailed data about the physiology and pathology of the disease is still out of reach. Moreover, the lack of a widespread vaccine prompts an urgent call for developing a proper intervention strategy against the virus. Importantly, identification of novel molecules that target replication of the virus represents one of the promising strategies for the control this pandemic crisis. Among others, honey bee products contain numerous bioactive compounds such as propolis and several phenolic compounds that possess a wide range of therapeutic properties for combating various pathological disorders and infectious agents. The intention of the present review is to highlight the stages of SARS-CoV-2 lifecycle, the molecular mechanisms explaining the health benefits of honey bee products on COVID‐19 physiology and pathology and the possible limitations. Further future research is suggested to explore more about bee natural bioactive compounds as potential candidates against SARS-CoV-2.
Introduction
Corona viruses (CoV) are a group of positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses ranging between 26 and 32 kb in size (; Song et al., 2019). This group of viruses belongs to genus β-Coronavirus, family Coronaviridae, and order Nidovirales (Paules et al., 2020). The epidemiological profile of Corona viruses’ infection involves a wide range of hosts that include humans, birds, and other mammals (Monchatre-Leroy et al., 2017; ). The clinical impact of these viruses ranges from asymptomatic cases to severe symptoms, affecting respiratory, digestive, and genital organs. In accordance with COVID‐19, the disease has been emerged and detected for the first time in patients with respiratory illness of unknown etiology in the urban center town, Hubei Province, Central China (; Song et al., 2019; Paraskevis et al., 2020). The viral agent was defined as coronavirus illness 2019 (COVID-19) or SARS-CoV-2 (; Sun et al., 2020; Xu et al., 2020). As of December 15, 2020, more than 73,212,302 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,628,442 deaths have been reported worldwide (Worldometer, 2020). Interestingly, honeybee products have been used in treatment of many diseases including tumor and immune-related diseases (Yusuf et al., 2007; Wieckiewicz et al., 2013). In this regard, honey, propolis, Bee pollen and Bee venom created by bees possess many biological activities like antibiotic, antifungal, antioxidant, antiviral, inhibitor, anti-cancer, and immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective effects (; Tolba et al., 2013; Pasupuleti et al., 2017; ; Shaldam et al., 2020). The following sections include an overview about structure, pathogenesis and mechanistic activities of SARS-CoV-2 and the potential application of Bee’s products in treatment of the disease.
Structure of SARS-CoV-2
As mentioned above, SARS-CoV-2 or CoV is an RNA virus belonging to the genus β-Coronavirus (Paules et al., 2020). This virus is a positive-sense RNA virus with a size of around 30 kb and about 74–99% identity with the coronavirus from the placental mammal (Manis javanica) and horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus sinicus) (Bat-CoVRaTG13), respectively (Zhu et al., 2020b). The typical CoV contains a minimum of six open reading frames (ORFs) (). The primary ORF (ORF1a/b) is a simple fraction that concerns the entire order length and encodes sixteen non-structural proteins (nsp1-16) (; Narayanan et al., 2015). Furthermore, the virus includes four main structural proteins; spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N) proteins which are shown in Figure 1 (; Peiris et al., 2004; ; Nadeem et al., 2020; Wrapp et al., 2020). It should be stressed that most of the non-structural proteins are known to play a significant role in virus replication while structural proteins are vital for particle assembly and for inflicting CoV infection (; McBride et al., 2014; ). Moreover, specific structural and accent proteins, like HE macromolecules are also encoded by CoV (; Naqvi et al., 2020).
FIGURE 1
Stages of SARS-CoV-2 Lifecycle and the Potential Inhibition Targets
It is noteworthy to state that SARS-CoV-2 targets cells through the infectious agent structural spike (S) supermolecule that binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme two (ACE2) receptor (Wang et al., 2007; Magrone et al., 2020). Following its binding to the receptor, the virus uses host cell receptors and endosomes to enter cells while this action is facilitated by transmembrane protease/serine subfamily member 2 via the S supermolecule (
FIGURE 2

Schematic represents virus-induced host immune system response and viral processing within target cells.
The Role of Natural Therapy Strategy in SARS-CoV-2
Revising the available literature, several previous studies explored the promising role of some natural compounds and phytochemical extracts, e.g. Lycoris radiata (red spider lily), Lindera aggregata, Pyrrosia lingua (a fern), and Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood), in treatment of outbreaks of SARS (Wu et al., 2004;
Potential Repressive Properties Against ACE-2 Receptors
The intra- or inter-species transmission of β-coronaviruses (CoVs) requires an interaction between the infective agent and the host cell receptors that results in the invasion of the virus into host cells (
Propolis, or bee glue, is defined as a natural resinous mixture produced by bees through its collection from nature (Sforcin, 2016;
Potential Repressing Properties Against Proteinase Enzyme
The inhibition of infectious agent proteinase is a crucial target in drug development. The 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro) might be a cysteine proteinase that hydrolyzes the polyproteins pp1a and pp1ab to supply purposeful proteins throughout the replication of the virus. As result of its extremely preserved sequence and essential properties, 3CLpro has been validated as a possible target for the treatment of respiratory illnesses such as MERS, and COVID-19 (
Interestingly, several previous studies documented that galangin, kaempferol, chrysin, and pinocembrin were detected in Croatian Cystus incanus L. bee pollen (Saric et al., 2009). The presence of herbacetin, myricetin, tricetin, luteolin, and 3-O-methylquercetin was also documented (
Potential Restrictive Properties Against Methyltransferase
It should be stressed that cap formation of an mRNAs infectious agent requires universally three sequent accelerator reactions. Firstly, RNA triphosphatase (TPase) removes the c-phosphate cluster from the 59-triphosphate finish (pppN) of the emergent RNA chain to come up with the diphosphate 5ʹ-ppN. Later on, RNA guanylyltransferase (GTase) transfers a Guanosine monophosphate (GMP) to the 59-diphosphate to yield the cap core structure (GpppN). Then, N7- MTase methylates the capping guanylate at the N7 position to supply a cap-0 structure (m7GpppN) (
Potential Restrictive Properties Against Ribonucleic Acid-dependent RNA Enzyme
Ribonucleic acid-dependent RNA enzyme (RdRp) is considered a crucial enzyme for coronaviruses as it catalyzes the replication of ribonucleic acid from RNA templates. Importantly, a remarkable similarity in the sequences and cipher structures of RdRp were reported among the sequence of RdRp in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), SARS-CoV-2 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) (
Interestingly, twelve completely different flavonoids were detected in propolis extracts namely, pinocembrin, acacetin, chrysin, rutin, luteolin, kaempferol, apigenin, myricetin, catechin, naringenin, galangin, and quercetin; 2 synthetic resin acids, caffeic acid and cinnamic acid (Volpi, 2004). Among others, myricetin has high binding affinity toward the RdRp of each SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 with favorable materia medica properties. This compound has been consumed since a time long ago and does not possess any inherent toxicity besides exhibiting a broad range of therapeutic properties, suggesting the potential use of this natural compound as inhibitor for RdRp of SARS-CoV-2. However, additional in vitro and in vivo studies seem mandatory to validate its efficaciousness against SARS-CoV-2 (Singh et al., 2020).
Potential Repressive Properties Against the Cytokine Storm
Revising the available literature, threatens of COVID-19 is partially related to cytokine storm which is defined as an exaggerated production of proinflammatory cytokines that results in multi organ system failure (
Limitations of the Studies Carried out in Honey Bee Compounds
Given the above information, natural products are among the therapeutic options for SARS-CoV-2 infection (Serkedjieva et al., 1992;
Conclusions, Limitations, and Future Perspectives
Given the above information, the current pandemic status of COVID-19 calls the urgent need to develop non-traditional novel drug targets and vaccines for combating the disease. Interestingly, several previous studies revealed the physiological and therapeutic actions of bee products (propolis, bee pollen, bee venom and honey) and their components, implicating their potential role in controlling various pathological conditions including COVID-19. However, it should be borne in mind that studies on bee bioactive compounds and their role in COVID-19 are limited and bee products may have different compositions. Taken together, the current review suggests further future studies on exploring the potential beneficial use of bee products besides investigation their detailed chemical analysis. This detailed information might provide clues for their use as potential drug targets for combating CoVID-19 either alone or in association with other drugs.
Statements
Author contributions
EE and YM designed the idea of the review, drafted the manuscript and submitted the manuscript to the journal. WA, FE, SA, and TY involved in the conception of the idea of the manuscript and contributed his scientific advice and revision of the manuscript. The manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Summary
Keywords
COVID‐19, pathogenesis, honey bee, products, inhibitors
Citation
Elmahallawy EK, Mohamed Y, Abdo W, El-Gohary FA, Ahmed Awad Ali S and Yanai T (2021) New Insights Into Potential Benefits of Bioactive Compounds of Bee Products on COVID-19: A Review and Assessment of Recent Research. Front. Mol. Biosci. 7:618318. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.618318
Received
16 October 2020
Accepted
29 December 2020
Published
08 February 2021
Volume
7 - 2020
Edited by
Da’san Mahmoud Mousa Jaradat, Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan
Reviewed by
Ana Cláudia Coelho, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
Mohammad Shahid, Children’s National Hospital, United States
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© 2021 Elmahallawy, Mohamed, Abdo, El-Gohary, Ahmed Awad Ali and Yanai.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Ehab Kotb Elmahallawy, eehaa@unileon.es
† These authors have contributed equally to this work
This article was submitted to Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics, a section of the journal Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
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