17 October 2012
A previously unknown honeybee defence weapon against varroa and a potential
new natural anaesthetic for humans.
Researchers have discovered that honeybees can bite as well as sting and
that the bite contains a natural anaesthetic. The anaesthetic may not only
help honeybees fend off pests such as wax moth and the parasitic varroa
mite, but it also has great potential for use in human medicine.
The surprise findings discovered by a team of researchers from Greek and
French organisations in collaboration with Vita (Europe) Ltd, the UK-based
honeybee health specialist, will cause a complete re-thinking of honeybee
defence mechanisms and could lead to the production of a natural, low
toxicity local anaesthetic for humans and animals.
The natural anaesthetic that has been discovered in the bite of the honeybee
and measured at the University of Athens is 2-heptanone (2-H), a natural
compound found in many foods and also secreted by certain insects, but never
before understood to have anaesthetic properties. Independent tests have
verified Vita's findings and the potential of 2-heptanone as a local
anaesthetic.
As a naturally-occurring substance with a lower toxicity than conventional
anaesthetics, 2-heptanone shows great potential. Vita has already patented
the compound for use as a local anaesthetic and is seeking pharmaceutical
partners to develop it further.
Until recently, research seemed to indicate that 2-heptanone was either a
honeybee alarm pheromone that triggers defensive responses, or a chemical
marker signalling to other foraging bees that a flower had already been
visited. Vita's results contradicted these notions.
The new research clearly shows that 2-heptanone paralyses small insects and
mites bitten by bees for up to nine minutes. Somewhat like a snake, the
honeybee uses its mandibles to bite its enemy and then secretes 2-heptanone
into the wound to anaesthetise it. This enables the honeybee to eject the
enemy from the hive and is a particularly effective defence against pests,
such as wax moth larvae and varroa mites, which are too small to sting.
Dr Max Watkins, Technical Director of Vita (Europe) Ltd, said “We are very
excited about our findings on at least two levels. Firstly, the revelation
that honeybees can bite enemies that they cannot sting confounds some
existing ideas and adds significantly to our biological knowledge. Secondly,
the discovery of a highly effective natural anaesthetic with huge potential
will be of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry eager to develop
better local anaesthetics."
In laboratory neurophysiological trials in the School of Biology of
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), 2-heptanone was found to have
a similar mode of action to Lidocaine, the dominant local anaesthetic used
in humans and other mammals. 2-heptanone is found naturally in many foods
such as beer and white bread and is so safe that it is permitted as a food
additive by USA regulatory authorities. 2-heptanone therefore offers
considerable potential as an alternative to Lidocaine. Very recent
laboratory research using mammalian cells in the USA, has confirmed Vita’s
expectations that the anaesthetic could be as effective on humans and
mammals as it is on insects and mites.
In considering the biological impacts of the findings, Dr Alexandros
Papachristoforou, a Vita researcher working under the supervision of
Professor G Theophilidis in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in
Greece, said: “It is amazing that this second line of honeybee defence has
gone undetected for so long. Beekeepers will be very surprised by our
discovery and it is likely to cause a radical rethink of some long-held
beliefs. It will probably stimulate honeybee research in many new
directions. For instance, many beekeepers have spoken of the 'grooming'
behaviour of honeybees in helping to control varroa populations. This
grooming behaviour can now be interpreted as biting behaviour.”
Dr Papachristoforou described how the unexpected properties of 2-heptanone
were discovered: “We were investigating wax moth control. Wax moths are a
serious honeybee pest whose larvae consume wax and pollen, often completely
destroying honeycomb. When exposed to 2-heptanone, which is produced
naturally by honeybees, the wax moths appeared to die. However, on closer
inspection, we realised that the wax moths were merely anaesthetised for a
period of one to nine minutes. This was quite unexpected, so our scientific
team set up a series of rigorous experiments to find out what was really
happening and came up with our remarkable discovery.”
The research has just been published in the peer-reviewed journal, PLOS ONE:
http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047432
Several organisations contributed to the research in collaboration with Vita
(Europe) Ltd: the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, the French
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris-Sud,
Cyprus University of Technology, and the University of Athens.
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