Vespa tropica venom suppresses lipopolysaccharide-mediated secretion of pro-inflammatory cyto-chemokines by abrogating nuclear factor-κ B activation in microglia

Objective and design: The present study was aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potentials of Vespa tropica (VT) venom and its isolated peptides. Effects of whole venom and its two peptides (Vt1512 and Vt1386) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenged BV-2 murine microglial cells was evaluated. Materials: Mouse microglial cell line, BV-2 and crude venom extract as well as purified peptides from VT along with LPS from Salmonella enterica were used for the studies. Treatment: BV-2 cells were treated with 500 ng/ml of LPS and different doses of crude wasp venom as well as purified peptides. Methods: We used immunoblotting, cytokine bead arrays and fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) to evaluate the levels of various proteins, cytokines and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Results: Our studies suggest that treatment with whole venom significantly reduces oxidative stress and LPS-stimulated activation of microglia. Also, purified peptides from crude venom exhibited potential anti-inflammatory properties. Further, whole venom was found to be targeting Akt and p38 MAPK pathways, leading to suppressed NF-κB phosphorylation in LPS challenged BV-2 cells. Conclusions: VT venom possesses anti-inflammatory properties and can be further explored for their therapeutic potential in treating various inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system (CNS).