Chemical, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and cytotoxicity assessments of Apis mellifera intermissa venom collected in Northeast Algeria

This study characterized the venom of the Algerian honeybee, Apis mellifera intermissa, and evaluated its key biological activities. Biochemical analysis by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed that melittin, the main component of bee venom, constituted approximately 38 % of its dry weight. Sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) confirmed the presence of major components, including melittin (∼3–5 kDa), phospholipase A₂ (∼15–20 kDa), and hyaluronidase (∼44 kDa). The venom exhibited strong antioxidant activity, as demonstrated by Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assays. Potent, broad-spectrum antibacterial activity was observed against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhimurium, Enterococcus faecalis, and Acinetobacter baumannii, yielding low minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC/MBC). The anti-inflammatory potential was evidenced by the inhibition of bovine serum albumin (BSA) denaturation. Furthermore, the venom exhibited significant cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines, with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀) of 17.17 µg/mL and 11.90 µg/mL, respectively. These findings highlight venom as a rich source of bioactive compounds with multifaceted therapeutic potential for pharmacological development.