Screening of Selected Stingless Bee Honey Varieties for ACE2-Spike Protein-Binding Inhibition Activity: A Potential Preventive Medicine Against SARS-Cov-2 Infection

Enos Tangke Arung; Rico Ramadhan; Liidza Diana Mandzilkh; Prasetia Aktavinaldy Santoso; Masako Matsumoto; Maki Nagata; Irawan Wijaya Kusuma; Swandari Paramita; Sukemi; Yadi; Naomichi Takemoto; Yhiya Amen; Syafrizal; Kuniyoshi Shimizu; Nataniel Tandirogang

doi:10.21315/mjms2022.29.5.15

Screening of Selected Stingless Bee Honey Varieties for ACE2-Spike Protein-Binding Inhibition Activity: A Potential Preventive Medicine Against SARS-Cov-2 Infection

Malays J Med Sci. 2022 Oct;29(5):146-153. doi: 10.21315/mjms2022.29.5.15. Epub 2022 Oct 28.

Authors

Enos Tangke Arung^{1

2}, Rico Ramadhan^{3

4}, Liidza Diana Mandzilkh¹, Prasetia Aktavinaldy Santoso¹, Masako Matsumoto⁵, Maki Nagata⁵, Irawan Wijaya Kusuma¹, Swandari Paramita^{2

6}, Sukemi⁷, Yadi⁸, Naomichi Takemoto⁵, Yhiya Amen^{5

9}, Syafrizal¹⁰, Kuniyoshi Shimizu^{5

11}, Nataniel Tandirogang⁸

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Forest Product Chemistry, Faculty of Forestry, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia.
² Research Center for Drugs and Cosmetics from Tropical Rainforest Resources, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia.
³ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia.
⁴ Division of Exploration and Synthesis of Bioactive Compounds, Research Center for Bio-Molecule Engineering, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia.
⁵ Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁶ Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia.
⁷ Chemical Education Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia.
⁸ Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia.
⁹ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
¹⁰ Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Science, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia.
¹¹ Institute for Asian and Oceanian Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

Abstract

The broader objective of this study is to identify natural materials that might inhibit the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. We have focused on stingless bee honey, which has a unique taste that is both sweet and sour and sometimes bitter. We screened 12 samples of honey from 11 species of stingless bees using an angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-spike protein-binding assay and phytochemical analysis. Ten of the samples showed inhibition above 50% in this assay system. Most of the honey contained tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, triterpenoids, carotenoids and carbohydrates. Our findings in this in vitro study showed that honey from stingless bees may have a potent effect against SARS-CoV-2 infection by inhibiting the ACE2-spike protein-binding.

Keywords: ACE2-spike protein-binding; SARS-CoV-2; honey; phytochemical; stingless bee.