Toxicological study of bee venom (Apis mellifera mellifera) from different regions of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Samples of Apis mellifera mellifera venom from different hives in two regions of the Buenos Aires province and its pool were analyzed for their lethal potency, myotoxic, defibrinogenating, hemolytic and inflammatory-edematizing activity and for the histological alterations they produce in the heart, lungs, kidneys, skeletal muscle and liver of mice. In vitro studies focused on the venom's hemolytic activity in different systems and species (horse, man, sheep and rabbit), the cytotoxicity in cellular lines, and on the proteolytic and coagulant activity in plasma and fibrinogen. Hemolytic activity, either observed in vitro or in vivo, showed similar toxicity levels for all samples.