2023 JUL 16 (VerticalNews) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at VerticalNews Health -- An article published in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy demonstrates the beneficial effects of consuming 500 milligrams (mg) per day of propolis for people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The authors found that the group given propolis, unlike the group given placebo, displayed a significant reduction in plasma levels of malondialdehyde, a marker of oxidative stress. Total antioxidant capacity increased slightly in the same group, reflecting the direct combating of free radicals.
"Although people living with HIV have excellent life expectancy thanks to existing therapies, one of the problems still faced is the question of premature aging - between 10 and 20 years compared with the non-infected population. They suffer from immunosenescence as immunity deteriorates rapidly, with early onset of diabetes, high blood pressure and neoplasia," said biologist Karen Ingrid Tasca, first author of the article. The study was part of her postdoctoral research at Sao Paulo State University's Botucatu Institute of Biosciences (IBB-UNESP) in Brazil with FAPESP's support.
This process of premature aging is due to constant activation of the immune system and chronic inflammation. According to Tasca, oxidative stress "goes hand in hand" with these two problems...