Table 1.
Basic characteristics of included studies.
| Condition | Author [Ref] Year | Conducting Country | Age [Mean] | Sex [M/F] | Study Period | Type of Bee Venom | Intervention | Control | Outcome | Results (p Value between Two Groups) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parkinson’s disease | Cho et al. [15] 2012 | South Korea | (A) 57.0 (B) 55.0 (C) 57.0 |
(A) 5/8 (B) 5/8 (C) 3/6 |
8 weeks | Acupuncture (Injection) | (A) - BVA at bilateral GB20, LI11, GB 34, ST36, and LR3, - BV 0.1 mL diluted on 1:20,000 distilled water - twice a week |
(B) - Acupuncture at same points with group A - twice a week (C) No treatment |
(1) UPDRS (2) PDQL (3) BDI (4) BBS (5) time of steps required to walk 30 m (6) number of steps required to walk 30 m |
[A-B, A-C] (1) NS, p < 0.05 (2) NS, NS (3) NS, NS (4) NS, NS (5) NS, NS (6) NS, NS |
| Hartmann et al. [16] 2016 | France | (A) 60.3 (median) (B) 63.3 (median) |
(A) 8/12 (B) 12/8 |
11 months | Injection | (A) - BV 0.1mg diluted in 1 mL of NaCl 0.9% - once a month |
(B) - Placebo (normal saline 1 mL) - once a month |
(1) UPDRS (2) Hoenh and Yahr stages (3) ADL (4) BREF (5) MMS (6) PDQ-39 (7) [123I]-FP-CIT binding potential |
(1) NS (2) NS (3) NS (4) NS (5) NS (6) NS (7) NS |
|
| Cho et al. [17] 2018 | South Korea | (A) 64.4 (B) 61.3 (C) 64.1 |
(A) 14/10 (B) 8/16 (C) 10/5 |
12 weeks + 8 weeks (follow-up) | Acupuncture (Injection) | (A) - BVA at bilateral GB20, LI11, GB 34, ST36, and LR3 - dried BV 1 mg diluted in 20 mL of normal saline - twice a week |
(B) - Placebo (normal saline injection at same points with group A - twice a week (C) Antiparkinsonian drugs |
(1) UPDRS (2) PDQL (3) BDI (4) PIGD (5) Gait speed (6) Gait number (7) MXE (8) DCL |
[A-B, A-C] (1) NS, p = 0.001 (2) NS, p = 0.968 (3) NS, NS (4) NS, p = 0.001 (5) NS, NS (6) NS, p = 0.115 (7) NS, NS (8) NS, NS |
|
| Adhesive capsulitis | Koh et al. [18] 2013 | South Korea | (A) 55.0 (B) 56.1 (C) 55.1 |
(A) 6/16 (B) 8/15 (C) 6/17 |
12 weeks | Acupuncture (Injection) | (A) - BVA 100 cc (1:10,000 of saline) at LI15, LI16, TE14, GB21, C7, SI11, and additional 5 points around the shoulder - Physiotherapy (B) - BVA 300 cc (1:30,000 of saline) at same points with group A - Physiotherapy |
(C) - Placebo (normal saline injection) - Physiotherapy |
(1) SPADI (2) VAS—at rest, at night, motion (3) ROM—abduction, forward flexion, extension, external rotation |
[Among 3 groups] (1) p = 0.017 (2) p = 0.110 (at rest), p = 0.160 (at night), p = 0.029 (motion) (3) NS |
| Park et al. [19] 2014, follow-up of [18] | (A) 55.4 (B) 52.8 (C) 56.4 |
(A) 6/16 (B) 8/15 (C) 6/17 |
1 year | 91) SPADI (2) VAS—at rest, at night, motion (3) Recurrence of symptoms |
[Among 3 groups](1) p = 0.043(2) NS(3) A-1, B-3, C-4 | |||||
| Pelvic inflammatory disease | Mohamed et al. [20] 2016 | Egypt | (A) 32.1 (B) 32.5 |
(A) 0/15 (B) 0/15 |
4 weeks | Ultrasound gel | (A) - BV gel topical application with phonophoresis - BV 20 μg/gel 1 g - 20 min/time, 3 times per week - doxycycline 100 mg, orally bid for 7 days |
(B) Doxycycline 100 mg, orally bid for 7 days |
(1) C-reactive protein (2) Pain intensity |
(1) p < 0.0001 (2) p < 0.0001 |
| Knee osteoarthritis | Conrad et al. [21] 2019 | South Korea | (A) 56.9 (B) 55.8 |
(A) 91/143 (B) 64/69 |
12 weeks | Injection | (A) - BV injection at 2–15 sites escalating over study period (0.1 mL at each site), 10 points at bilateral knees, BL19, BL21, BL23, BL25, and BL27 - dried HV 1.0 mg/1.0 mL 0.5% preservative-free lidocaine |
(B) Histamine phosphate injection at same sites with group A |
(1-1) WOMAC pain (1-2) WOMAC physical function (2-1) WOMAC VAS resting (2-2) WOMAC VAS walking (3) PGA |
(1-1) p = 0.001 (1-2) p = 0.001 (2-1) p = 0.1051 (2-2) p = 0.001 (3) p = 0.0001 |
| Low back pain | Shin et al. [22] 2012 | South Korea | (A) 42.9 (B) 40.0 |
(A) 13/17 (B) 14/16 |
4 weeks | Acupuncture (Injection) | (A) - BVA at bilateral BL23, BL24, and BL25 - BV 0.1 mL diluted on 1:2000 distilled water - twice a week |
(B) - Placebo (normal saline injection at same points with group A) - twice a week |
(1) Pain intensity (VAS) (2) ODQ (3) SF-36 |
(1) p = 0.012 (2) NS (3) NS |
| Seo et al. [23] 2017 | South Korea | (A) 49.9 (B) 50.1 |
(A) 9/18 (B) 4/23 |
3 weeks | Acupuncture (Injection) | (A) - BVA at bilateral BL23, BL24, BL26, and GB30, GV3, GV4, and GV5 - dried BV diluted on 1:20000 normal saline (0.9% NaCl) - Loxonin 60 mg, orally tid for 3 weeks |
(B) - Placebo (normal saline injection at same points with group A) - Loxonin 60 mg, orally tid for 3 weeks |
(1) Bothersomeness (VAS) (2) Pain intensity (VAS) (3) ODI (4) BDI (5) EQ-5D |
(1) p = 0.016 (2) p = 0.049 (3) p = 0.009 (4) p = 0.043 (5) p = 0.051 |
|
| Temporomandibular disorder (RDC/TMD Ia and RDC/TMD Ib) | Nitecka-Buchta et al. [24] 2014 | Poland | 23 (22-34) | (A) 6/28 (B) 4/30 |
2 weeks | Ointment | (A) - BV ointment (0.012 mg liquid BV) for topical skin application in region of both masseter muscles - Massage |
(B) - Vaseline at same region with group A - Massage |
(1) Muscle tonus (2) Muscle contraction (3) VAS |
(1) NR (2) NR (3) NR |
| Delayed onset muscle soreness | Kim et al. [25] 2014 | South Korea | (A) 27.4 (B) 28.9 |
(A) 0/10 (B) 0/10 |
3 days | Ultrasound gel | (A) - Ultrasound gel and diluted bee venom (0.001%) mixed at a ratio of 9:1 - Ultrasound at the belly of the biceps brachii muscle, - 1 MHz, 1.0 W/cm2, 2.5 cm/s, 10 min |
(B) - Ultrasound in the same way as group A, with pure ultrasound gel without BV |
(1) VAS (2) CK (3) ROM—flexion, extension |
(1) p < 0.05 (2) NS (3) p < 0.05 |
| Polycystic ovary syndrome | Yasin et al. [26] 2019 | Egypt | (A) 26.0 (B) 26.3 |
(A) 0/23 (B) 0/23 |
14 weeks | Ultrasound gel | (A) - BV gel topical application with phonophoresis at BL23 and Zigong - 0.6–1.0 mg of BV each session, 1 MHz - twice a week - low calorie diet (1200–1400 kcal/day) |
(B) - Ultrasound in the same way as group A, with pure ultrasound gel without BV - low calorie diet (1200–1400 kcal/day) |
(1) LH (2) FSH (3) LH/FSH (4) Progesterone |
(1) p = 0.683 (2) p = 0.449 (3) p = 0.456 (4) p = 0.183 |
BV: Bee Venom; BVA: Bee Venom Acupuncture; UPDRS: Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale; PDQL: Parkinson’s Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire; BDI: Beck Depression Inventory; BBS: Berg Balance Scale; ADL: Activities of Daily Living ; BREF: Batterie Rapide D’évaluation Frontale ; MMS: Mini Mental State; PDQ-39: Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39; PIGD: Postural Instability and Gait Disorder; MXE: Maximum excursion ; DCL: Directional control VAS: Visual Analog Scale; ODQ: Oswestry Disability Questionnaire; ODI: Oswestry Disability Index; EQ-5D: EuroQol 5-Dimension ; SPADI: Shoulder Pain and Disability Index; ROM: Range Of Motion; CK: Creatine Kinase; WOMAC: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index; PGA: Patient Global Assessment; NS: Not Significant; NR: Not Reported.