Heart Mitochondrial Respiration Rate Decreased With Propolis Water Solution

Heart Disease Weekly, 7/16/2006

Researchers in Lithuania report, "The effect of propolis water solution (PWS) on the respiration of rat heart mitochondria with NAD-linked (pyruvate + malate), FAD-linked (succinate) substrates and fatty acids (palmitoyl-L-carnitine) was investigated in this study."…

"PWS at concentrations of 63 and 125 mcg mL of PC caused a significant decrease of basal (24 and 54%) and maximal (58 and 70%) respiration rates with succinate as substrate," noted the investigators. "At these PWS concentrations the oxidation of pyruvate + malate and palmitoyl-L-carnitine was diminished to a lower degree: the basal respiration rate decreased by 13-18% and the maximal respiration rate by 15-28%. Succinate oxidation was affected, probably because of the inhibition of succinate dehydrogenase by the 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid esters found in PWS."

"The PWS-caused decrease in the mitochondrial respiration rate with pyruvate + malate and fatty acids could be due to diminished activities of respiratory chain complexes and/or ADP/ATP translocator," the authors concluded.

Majiene and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (Influence of propolis water solution on heart mitochondrial function. J Pharm Pharmacol, 2006;58(5):709-713).

For additional information, contact D. Majiene, Kaunas University of Medicine, Institute for Biomedical Research, Eiveniu Str 4, LT-50009 Kaunas 7, Lithuania.