Anti-nephrotoxicity effect of bee and wasp venoms on rheumatoid arthritis-induced male albino rats <i>(Rattus rattus)</i>

Due to its beneficial benefits on diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, Hymenoptera venom acupuncture therapy is an alternative therapy for patients with various chronic diseases all over the world. The present study aimed to examine the modulatory effects of wasp venom (WV) and bee venom (BV) in the histological changes of the kidney caused by rheumatoid arthritis in male albino rats (Rattus rattus). The dose of 40 μg/Kg body weight of lyophilized bee and wasp venoms was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) every day for 4 weeks. The rats were randomly divided into six groups: placebo administered DW; positive control only Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) injected into the right hind paw; treatment groups treated with WV or BV injected with 100µl of CFA in the right hind paw with WV or BV (i.p.) which subdivided into subgroups: 2 subgroups treated with venom (WV or BV) i.p. for 4 weeks along with CFA, and another two subgroups treated after five days from CFA injection for 4 weeks. The rats were sacrificed and the kidneys were taken out and processed for histological study. In the positive control group, many histopathological alterations were observed, such as degenerative changes in both glomeruli and renal tubule, congestion, and inflammatory cells in the kidney. Sections of the kidney from the BV-treated group showed normal glomerulus and tubules in most sections with reducing degenerative alterations and congestion. In conclusion, the BV was more effective in reducing nephrotoxicity induced by CFA than WV, which had less efficiency in reducing degenerative changes.