Skip to main content

Table 4 Some examples of therapeutically used invertebrates, for whom bio-active substances are known

From: Therapeutic arthropods and other, largely terrestrial, folk-medicinally important invertebrates: a comparative survey and review

Species and/or component

Efficacy and properties

Source

Beeswax, honey & royal jelly

Bio-active, oestrogenic and immunosuppressive compounds

[43, 91, 147]

Bee venom

Anti-malignant, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic peptides, e.g. melittin

[85, 88, 178, 179]

Lice salivary glands

Medically effective toxins

[182]

Fly maggots

Anti-microbial secretions

[26, 184]

Stinging ants

Antimicrobial, haemolytic, cytolytic, insecticidal compounds, e.g., peptides

[185, 186]

Meloid beetles, e.g., Mylabris phalerata

Cytotoxic effect on human mononuclear leukaemic U937 cells and anti-cancer and anti-leismanial activities; apoptosis inducer

[35, 159, 190, 231]

Centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans

Peptides with strong antimicrobial and moderate haemolytic activity against human and rabbit red cells

[34, 48, 136, 233, 234]

Chelicerates (e.g., Heterometrus bengalensis scorpion)

Apoptogenic, anti-proliferative, anti-osteoporosis substance, e.g., bengalin

[140,142,, 143145]

Ticks (e.g., Ixodes sp.) and leeches

Cell proliferation inhibitors and Anti-coagulants, e.g., hirudin

[32,199,, 160, 198200]

Earthworms, e.g. Eisenia foetida and Lumbricus rubelus

Anti-pyretic, anti-spasmodic, diuretic, anti-asthmatic, anti-hypertensive, anti-allergic, anti-neoplastic properties

[156, 158]