The upper respiratory system includes the nose, nasal cavity, pharynx, and larynx with subglottic area of trachea.
Respiratory tract diseases affect a large number of people worldwide: in the European Union (EU), for instance, 7% of hospital admissions are linked to respiratory illnesses, which are responsible for approximately 12% of all-cause deaths.
Upper and lower respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are common conditions for which medical advice is regularly sought, and their management relies on the use of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines (Hamoen et al. 2014). The World Health Organization (WHO) alerts that about 80% of antibiotics are used in the community, of which about 20 e 50% are used inappropriately (WHO, 2017).
Bee products have been used empirically for centuries especially for the treatment of respiratory diseases. Propolis can significantly reduce the number and severity of nighttime asthma attacks, improve pulmonary function and reduce inflammation (Khayyal et al., 2003). Subjects with pharyngitis treated with propolis showed a significant positive trend in symptom relief with a reduction in sore throat, fever, adenomegaly, pharyngeal erythema and exudate with the only exception in the nasal secretion that showed no clear signs of improvement (Di Pierro et al., 2016). Propolis can be effective in relieving symptoms of allergic rhinitis by inhibiting the release of histamine (Shinmei et al., 2009). In addition, propolis is able to reduce allergic pulmonary inflammation in murine model through the involvement of lung inflammatory cells and the decrease of polymorphonuclear inflammatory cells (de Farias et al., 2014).
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B Natural Propolis Activity in Respiratory Health
The antibacterial activity of Propolis M.E.D. and it’s proved antinflammatory and antioxidant activity (Zaccaria et al., 2017, Curti et al., 2019, Zaccaria et al., 2019) suggest using the characterized polyphenol complex to treat the URTI.
In the beginning of 2019, a clinical trial began, randomized double blind placebo control study, in collaboration with University of Naples and Fatebenefratelli Hospital (Italy) to investigate activity of Propolis M.E.D. on the incidence of URTI.
In the treatment of URTI, the most common galenic forms used are: oral and nasal spray, effervescent tablets, capsules, syrups and orosoluble tablets. For these applications we suggest:
- Hydrogliceric extract GREIT for analcoholic spray, syrup etc.
- Dry extract ESIT for orosoluble tablets, effervescent tablets, capsules, candies,etc.
- Hydroalcoholic extract EPE spray, drops, etc.
All these extracts are standardized and available with different concentration of polyphenols while maintaining the characterized polyphenol complex of Propolis M.E.D.
Propolis M.E.D. is already used in medical devices thanks to its mucoadhesive properties able to promote barrier effect. Moreover, B Natural has got several formulation for oral spray in bulk, also without alcohol, ready to be packaged.
