Propolis for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19, UNAM
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Research shows that taking propolis helps boost immune defenses.
Propolis is an element of nature that can help prevent the spread of viral diseases from seasonal influenza until the Covid-19 , this was the result of a series of investigations carried out by researchers from the Faculty of Higher Studies (FES) Cuautitlán of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Tonatiuh Cruz Sánchez , academic at FES, assured that propolis is a good element to avoid viral diseases, among them coronavirus , as it increases the body's immune boosters.
"It can be taken to avoid viral diseases such as seasonal influenza , which will be important to dissipate before it converges with the Covid-19 ”.
Among the phenols, Cruz Sánchez mentioned caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), which acts on the viral polymerase, an enzyme capable of replicating the genetic material of COVID-19, making it an excellent antimicrobial. Flavonoids, meanwhile, contain antioxidants such as pinocembrin , which are attributed with antiviral activity.
This beehive product also acts as an immunomodulator in the body, meaning it enhances the response against infectious agents.
The tests to analyze its effects, carried out by Cruz Sánchez, together with the researchers of the Laboratory of Veterinary Morphology and Cell Biology , determined the antiviral result of propolis in cell cultures infected with various viruses, including those that produce swine pseudorabies , a highly contagious disease and canine distemper .
María de Jesús González Búrquez , head of the laboratory, explained that they studied the propolis while it was in a cell culture, before the virus had reproduced throughout the body, that is, before it made a person sick.
González Búrquez explained that the antiviral activity of this substance was studied in three different stages of these infections: placing it in a cell culture before inoculation prevented the virus from entering the cell receptors, and applying it during and after infection decreased pathogen replication. The best results were obtained when it was used before the virus.
"Its access was prevented, and by applying it during and after infection, the replication of the pathogen decreased."
"Phenethyl ester is one of the chemical compounds that act on the viral polymerase, the enzyme capable of replicating the genetic material of Covid-19, which makes it an excellent antimicrobial," said the UNAM expert.
Therefore, experts from the UNAM They noted that the best results were obtained when propolis was used before the virus was present.
But what is propolis? It's the mixture bees make from tree sap or other plant sources, which they then process in the hive to seal the panels and sometimes use to "varnish" the interior.
The color of propolis depends on the source from which it was obtained, with dark brown being the most common. It is sticky and solidifies at lower temperatures.
Source: UNAM Bulletin https://www.dgcs.unam.mx/boletin/bdboletin/2020_660.html