While bee venom has been touted for many years as an analgesic for arthritis sufferers, a new study has discovered just how it might work to make people feel better.In animal studies conducted last year, doctors in South Korea found that melittin, the principal peptide in bee venom, blocks the expression of inflammatory genes that can cause painful tissue swelling in rheumatoid arthritis patients."The potency of melittin in the inhibition of the inflammatory response may be of great benefit in degenerative and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis,” the authors wrote in their study, which appears in the November issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism.
