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BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer seriously threatens human health. Bee venom is a mixture of enzymes, peptides, and amines. Due to its biological activity, bee venom is widely used as an anti-inflammatory agent and pain reliever. However, little is known about the effect of bee venom on pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Firstly, the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was conducted to analyze the cytotoxicity of bee venom on PANC-1 and AsPC-1 cells. Then, we evaluated the cell cycle and apoptosis by flow cytometry and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) assay. In addition, cell migration was analyzed by the cell scratch test and Transwell assay. Western blot was performed to assess the expression of proteins involved in the regulation of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that bee venom significantly suppressed cell proliferation via inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis with suppression of cell migration. Bee venom induced S phase arrest and ameliorated the protein expression of cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). At the same time, bee venom can activate the p53–p21 pathway. Experimental data also showed that bee venom induced cell apoptosis and impeded cell migration. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that bee venom could effectively inhibit tumor progression in pancreatic cancer cells, indicating the possibility of bee venom as an anti-tumor drug in pancreatic cancer.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Tranfat Decoction on obesity mice induced by high-fat diet. Methods: 90 healthy SPF C57BL/6 male mice aged 3 weeks were selected and 15 of them were treated as normal group. The remaining 75 mice were used as model group to induce obesity. After successful modeling, drug intervention was given for 6 weeks, and body weight, body fat content and blood fat level of the mice were measured. Results: After 6 weeks of drug intervention, compared with the model blank group, the body weight of the drug administration group all decreased to different degrees (P < 0.05). TC, TG, LDL-C and HDL-C levels were significantly different in the high-dose group (P < 0.05). Fat volume was lower in the administration group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Tranfat Decoction can reduce body weight, body fat content and blood fat level in obese mice induced by high-fat diet.