BEE VENOM FOR LYMPHEDEMA
What is Lymphedema?
The lymphatic system plays an important role in the proper functioning of our immune system. There is fluid, called lymph, which circulates in the lymphatic system. And any sort of blockage in this system of circulation results in lymphedema.
So basically, lymphedema is the swelling that takes place in the arms or legs; it can affect a single arm or both arms and a single leg or both legs. This condition is most commonly found in the patients of cancer, whose lymph nodes are damaged while treating cancer cells. Any sort of disturbance in the system prevents proper drainage of lymph fluid and the buildup results in swelling.
There is no medicine available that cures lymphedema, but the symptoms can be managed through some care and a few medicines and on-time diagnosis.
What Are The Symptoms Of Lymphedema?
Symptoms and signs of lymphedema that occur in an affected leg or arm are:
Types of Lymphedema
As you know that normally lymphedema takes place when the lymph vessels are unable to get rid of lymph fluid from an arm or leg. It has two types – primary and secondary.
Primary Lymphedema
It occurs on its own and it is an inherited, yet rare condition that results due to some problem in the development of lymph vessels. Primary lymphedema is caused due to:
It occurs due to the presence of any other condition or disease.
This type of lymphedema is more common than the primary lymphedema.
Secondary lymphedema is caused due to:
After cancer, certain factors can increase the risk of getting lymphedema, like:
Apart from conventional medicines meant for controlling symptoms of lymphedema, currently bee venom therapy is also being used to treat lymphedema. The good thing is that BV therapy has no serious side effects and its results are extremely satisfactory.
Late-Onset Post-radiation Lymphedema Provoked by Bee Venom Therapy: A Case Report
Abstract
Lymphedema is one of the most common complications, which arises due to or treatment of cancer. It mostly occurs after strong drug therapy. Bee venom is one of the best components that have been used in acupuncture treatment and it has helped in controlling different inflammatory diseases and illnesses.
In this case, the subject, a 74 years old male patient, developed post-radiation lymphedema. It developed after 5 years of prostate cancer treatment, which was done through radiation therapy and transurethral resection. The subjects developed swelling in the left leg after receiving honey bee venom treatment for pain in the left hip.
Lymphoscintigraphy and computed tomography indicated lymphedema, but without infection or tumor recurrence. It was found that the lymphatic system became damaged due to BV therapy and that triggered lymphedema. It means that BV therapy needs to be used with caution in subjects prone to lymphedema.
IntroductionA major portion of bee venom is made of water and it also consists of non-peptides and peptides and various enzymes that deliver an anti-inflammatory effect for different diseases, illnesses, and even cancer. It has been established that bee venom acupuncture provides anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects, by generating inflammatory and immunological responses through different mechanisms. However, the exact working mechanism is still not clear and the link between lymphedema and bee venom has not been reported yet. Here a patient is being reported having post-radiation lymphedema, which was provoked due to bee venom therapy.
Case
A male patient 74 years old, reported at the vascular surgery section and complained of swelling in the left leg. At that time, he reported that nearly a week ago he experienced pain in the left side of his hip. So he went for the treatment to a local clinic and got bee venom therapy which resulted in swelling of the left leg. Computed tomography and vascular ultrasonography presented diffuse swelling of the left leg. There was no evidence found of thrombosis or vascular injury in the inguinal area.
According to the report of blood test; white blood cells 4,880/mm3 were in normal range (3,800 to 10,500mm3), creatinine (0.70mg/dL) was also in the normal range (0.70 to 1.30mg/dL), C-reactive protein (0.19mg/dL) was also in the normal range (0 to 0.50mg/dL) and albumin (3.6g/dL) was also in the normal range (3.4 to 5.8g/dL). There was no infection found so antibiotics were prescribed and the patient was referred to the rehabilitation section after a compression stocking was advised.
In March of 2017, the rehabilitation department started its work, along with physical therapy and intermittent pneumatic compression and manual lymphatic drainage. Laboratory examination showed that his WBCs were at 4,490/mm3, albumin level was at 3.4g/dL, creatinine level was at 0.64mg/dL and the C-reactive protein level was at 0.30mg/dL. Meanwhile, he was also subjected to diuretics. That led to a definite decrease in the overall circumference of thigh and calf; by 7cm and 3 cm, respectively. This difference was noticed right after 10 days of the treatment. Later, the patient was allowed to go home and was prescribed diuretic medicines. But after a passage of 2 months, it was found that lymphedema had aggravated and led to gait disturbance that was due to tightness and heaviness of the left leg. Overall circumference of the leg had again increased; 7cm of the calf and 10cm of the thigh.
The subject visited another hospital for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and bone scan; it was found that he had severe lymphedema and nothing else. Nearly 6 months had passed in this condition when persistent deterioration was registered. It was advised that the patient must go through the lymph vessel bypass operation right away.
Result
Keeping in view these results, normal PSA and normal infection markers it can be said that the post-radiation lymphatic system was not maintained at all. It is supposed that the lymphatic system received injury due to bee venom therapy, which provoked lymphedema at some point. The patient was not aware of the results of bee venom therapy that was performed on him several months ago.
It is supposed that enzyme (phospholipase A2) and active peptide (melittin) – constituents of bee venom - led to downregulation and non-selective cytotoxicity of the VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). It explains that directly cytotoxicity hit the already weakened lymphatic circulation and reticence of lymphangiogenesis caused due to VEGF down-regulation that ultimately caused lymphedema in the subject. Furthermore, lymphedema was induced due to interference brought in the intracellular pathway of lymphatic endothelial cells due to a reduction in the VEGF production, as it was recorded in the renal transplant recipient, who was subjected to everolimus medication.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6129717/
Combined Cytogenotoxic Effects of Bee Venom and Bleomycin on Rat Lymphocytes: An in Vitro study
Introduction
Various clinical studies have shown that melittin, an essential component of bee venom, has a direct anti-tumor effect in vitro and in vivo on different types of cancer responsible cells, including renal, liver, bone, cervical, breast and prostate cancer cells. Numerous clinical studies have demonstrated the unique mechanism of bee venom cytotoxicity, which includes induction of necrosis or apoptosis, the effect on growth inhibition of proliferation and cell cycle alterations.
In spite of these studies conducted to inspect various mechanisms of bee venom cytotoxicity on the cancer responsible cells, only a few reports indicate its effects on the normal healthy cells and its ability to alter the effects of cytogenetic toxicity of anti-cancer antibiotics on normal cells.
Several drugs have been tested, to diminish the risk of developing any sort of tumor due to regulation of apoptosis, one of the most famous chemotherapeutic agents is the BLM (bleomycin). It is a water-soluble antibiotic, which holds a gold standard chemotherapy regimen status and is typically used to treated carcinomas and lymphomas. But it has also been noted that nearly 46% of the subjects given BLM, later suffer from any sort of pulmonary toxicity.
Apoptosis has been described as the main subject of cell death, in cycling and resting human lymphocytes that are exposed to BLM due to caspase-8 activation. It highly suggests that there is direct involvement of an extrinsic pathway in the process of apoptosis.
Cancer cell lines that have been studied earlier predicted the mitigating effect of bee venom on the side effects of BLM. But there is no proper information available that tells us about the combined effect of bee venom and BLM on the healthy isolated lymphocytes. This study was specially conducted to determine the cytotoxicity (fluorescent microscopy examinations, LDH release percentage, quantitative expression examination of apoptosis-related genes- Bcl2 and caspase3 and MTT assay) and DNA fragmentation assay of bee venom and its involvement in the modulation of the BLM induced cellular alteration.
Method
Male Sprague Dawley rats, weighing between 120gm to 150gm, were chosen for this study. These male rats were obtained from the Laboratory Animal Farm of the Veterinary Medicine of Zagazig University. It was made sure that they became used to, of the laboratory environment and for this reason they were kept under observation for 2 weeks, clinical study was conducted after this period had elapsed.
Experimental mice were placed in stainless steel cages and subjected to a comfortable temperature of 21 to 24 degrees centigrade. It was also made sure that they got proper light and dark conditions for 12hours each. The humidity level was maintained around 50% to 60% and they were also given a standard diet throughout the clinical study. The welfare of the experimental rats was totally by the guidelines provided by the Animal Use Research Ethics Committee located in the Cairo University, Egypt.
Pure Egyptian bee venom was identified and acquired according to the guidelines of Schmidt by the Bee Research Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt. While BLM was acquired from the Nippon Kayaku Co., Japan. The remaining chemicals, culture media, and reagents used for the clinical study were of methodical grade and were obtained from Sigma Aldrich Co., USA.
ResultsIt was found that the cell survival had diminished in all of the treated groups when compared with the control group at both of the time points of incubation – 24hours and 72hours, but the BLM given exceeded bee venom potency in getting rid of the normal lymphocytes by nearly 12.5% during the first time point later, this gap was brought down to nearly 2.5% at the second time point. Anti-proliferative properties of both bee venom (0.685; 0.290) and BLM (0.497; 0.267) were established when compared with the control group (1.501; 0.946) at both of the time points, but the combination of BLM was more evident than bee venom alone.
It was observed that after 24hours of incubation, bee venom treated lymphocytes demonstrated a significant elevation in the LDH release (26.73 ± 1.67, P ≤ 0.05) on the other hand; the BLM treatment did not show any significant increase (13.55 ± 1.53). But after a joint exposure of BLM and BV, LDH release was known to be quite significant (21.45 ± 1.65) when compared to the value of the control group (12.93 ± 0.97). When 72hours had passed after incubation, the treated lymphocytes generated considerably more LDH in comparison to the control group. In the end, bee venom led to the generation of the highest LDH values.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4009237/
Conclusion
The results show that bee venom enhanced the potential of BLM for killing noncancerous cells. It must be understood that the cellular events observed, were not caused due to the activation of genotoxic alterations of the apoptotic machinery. Hence, it can be declared that bee venom can be easily used with customary chemotherapeutic agents to improve their efficiency and remove the chances of any sort of secondary malignancies.
This study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of bee venom (BV) and/or the chemotherapeutic agent bleomycin (BLM) on healthy isolated rat lymphocytes utilizing morphometric and molecular techniques. Using the Ficoll-Histopaque density gradient centrifugation technique, lymphocytes were isolated, divided into groups, and subjected to BV and/or BLM at incubation medium concentrations of 10 or 20 μg/mL respectively for 24 and 72 hrs. An MTT assay and fluorescent microscopy examinations were used to assess the cytotoxic effects. To determine the predominant type of BV and/or BLM-induced cell death, the LDH release assay was employed beside quantitative expression analyses of the apoptosis-related genes (Caspase-3 and Bcl-2). The genotoxic effects of the tested compounds were evaluated via a DNA fragmentation assay. The results of these assays demonstrated that BV potentiates BLM-induced cytotoxicity through increased LDH release and diminished cell viability. Nevertheless, BV significantly inhibited BLM-induced DNA damage. The results verify that BV significantly attenuates the genotoxic effects of BLM on noncancerous isolated rat lymphocytes but does not diminish BLM cytotoxicity.
This study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of bee venom (BV) and/or the chemotherapeutic agent bleomycin (BLM) on healthy isolated rat lymphocytes utilizing morphometric and molecular techniques. Using the Ficoll-Histopaque density gradient centrifugation technique, lymphocytes were isolated, divided into groups, and subjected to BV and/or BLM at incubation medium concentrations of 10 or 20 μg/mL respectively for 24 and 72 hrs. An MTT assay and fluorescent microscopy examinations were used to assess the cytotoxic effects. To determine the predominant type of BV and/or BLM-induced cell death, the LDH release assay was employed beside quantitative expression analyses of the apoptosis-related genes (Caspase-3 and Bcl-2). The genotoxic effects of the tested compounds were evaluated via a DNA fragmentation assay. The results of these assays demonstrated that BV potentiates BLM-induced cytotoxicity through increased LDH release and diminished cell viability. Nevertheless, BV significantly inhibited BLM-induced DNA damage. The results verify that BV significantly attenuates the genotoxic effects of BLM on noncancerous isolated rat lymphocytes but does not diminish BLM cytotoxicity.
The lymphatic system plays an important role in the proper functioning of our immune system. There is fluid, called lymph, which circulates in the lymphatic system. And any sort of blockage in this system of circulation results in lymphedema.
So basically, lymphedema is the swelling that takes place in the arms or legs; it can affect a single arm or both arms and a single leg or both legs. This condition is most commonly found in the patients of cancer, whose lymph nodes are damaged while treating cancer cells. Any sort of disturbance in the system prevents proper drainage of lymph fluid and the buildup results in swelling.
There is no medicine available that cures lymphedema, but the symptoms can be managed through some care and a few medicines and on-time diagnosis.
What Are The Symptoms Of Lymphedema?
Symptoms and signs of lymphedema that occur in an affected leg or arm are:
- Thickening and hardening of the skin (fibrosis)
- Recurring infections
- Discomfort and aching
- A short-range of motion
- The general feeling of tightness or heaviness
- Swelling in leg or arm, including toes and fingers
Types of Lymphedema
As you know that normally lymphedema takes place when the lymph vessels are unable to get rid of lymph fluid from an arm or leg. It has two types – primary and secondary.
Primary Lymphedema
It occurs on its own and it is an inherited, yet rare condition that results due to some problem in the development of lymph vessels. Primary lymphedema is caused due to:
- Lymphedema Tarda – it occurs very rarely and normally begins after the age of 35 years.
- Lymphedema Praecox – it occurs during pregnancy or around puberty, but it can also occur later.
- Congenital Lymphedema – it occurs during infancy and disturbs the normal growth of lymph nodes, which later results in lymphedema.
It occurs due to the presence of any other condition or disease.
This type of lymphedema is more common than the primary lymphedema.
Secondary lymphedema is caused due to:
- Infection – any sort of parasites or infection of the lymph nodes can block the proper flow of lymph fluid. Lymphedema that arises due to infection is more common in subtropical and tropical regions than the developing countries.
- Cancer – cancer cells can easily block the lymphatic system. It happens when the site of the tumor is close to a lymph vessel or a lymph node and its growth constricts the passage of lymph fluid. In the same manner, cancer treatment based on strong radiations can lead to inflammation and scarring of lymph nodes and lymph vessels.
- Surgery – any sort of injury lent to the lymph nodes during their removal can result in lymphedema.
After cancer, certain factors can increase the risk of getting lymphedema, like:
- Psoriatic or rheumatoid arthritis
- Obesity
- Old age
Apart from conventional medicines meant for controlling symptoms of lymphedema, currently bee venom therapy is also being used to treat lymphedema. The good thing is that BV therapy has no serious side effects and its results are extremely satisfactory.
Late-Onset Post-radiation Lymphedema Provoked by Bee Venom Therapy: A Case Report
Abstract
Lymphedema is one of the most common complications, which arises due to or treatment of cancer. It mostly occurs after strong drug therapy. Bee venom is one of the best components that have been used in acupuncture treatment and it has helped in controlling different inflammatory diseases and illnesses.
In this case, the subject, a 74 years old male patient, developed post-radiation lymphedema. It developed after 5 years of prostate cancer treatment, which was done through radiation therapy and transurethral resection. The subjects developed swelling in the left leg after receiving honey bee venom treatment for pain in the left hip.
Lymphoscintigraphy and computed tomography indicated lymphedema, but without infection or tumor recurrence. It was found that the lymphatic system became damaged due to BV therapy and that triggered lymphedema. It means that BV therapy needs to be used with caution in subjects prone to lymphedema.
IntroductionA major portion of bee venom is made of water and it also consists of non-peptides and peptides and various enzymes that deliver an anti-inflammatory effect for different diseases, illnesses, and even cancer. It has been established that bee venom acupuncture provides anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects, by generating inflammatory and immunological responses through different mechanisms. However, the exact working mechanism is still not clear and the link between lymphedema and bee venom has not been reported yet. Here a patient is being reported having post-radiation lymphedema, which was provoked due to bee venom therapy.
Case
A male patient 74 years old, reported at the vascular surgery section and complained of swelling in the left leg. At that time, he reported that nearly a week ago he experienced pain in the left side of his hip. So he went for the treatment to a local clinic and got bee venom therapy which resulted in swelling of the left leg. Computed tomography and vascular ultrasonography presented diffuse swelling of the left leg. There was no evidence found of thrombosis or vascular injury in the inguinal area.
According to the report of blood test; white blood cells 4,880/mm3 were in normal range (3,800 to 10,500mm3), creatinine (0.70mg/dL) was also in the normal range (0.70 to 1.30mg/dL), C-reactive protein (0.19mg/dL) was also in the normal range (0 to 0.50mg/dL) and albumin (3.6g/dL) was also in the normal range (3.4 to 5.8g/dL). There was no infection found so antibiotics were prescribed and the patient was referred to the rehabilitation section after a compression stocking was advised.
In March of 2017, the rehabilitation department started its work, along with physical therapy and intermittent pneumatic compression and manual lymphatic drainage. Laboratory examination showed that his WBCs were at 4,490/mm3, albumin level was at 3.4g/dL, creatinine level was at 0.64mg/dL and the C-reactive protein level was at 0.30mg/dL. Meanwhile, he was also subjected to diuretics. That led to a definite decrease in the overall circumference of thigh and calf; by 7cm and 3 cm, respectively. This difference was noticed right after 10 days of the treatment. Later, the patient was allowed to go home and was prescribed diuretic medicines. But after a passage of 2 months, it was found that lymphedema had aggravated and led to gait disturbance that was due to tightness and heaviness of the left leg. Overall circumference of the leg had again increased; 7cm of the calf and 10cm of the thigh.
The subject visited another hospital for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and bone scan; it was found that he had severe lymphedema and nothing else. Nearly 6 months had passed in this condition when persistent deterioration was registered. It was advised that the patient must go through the lymph vessel bypass operation right away.
Result
Keeping in view these results, normal PSA and normal infection markers it can be said that the post-radiation lymphatic system was not maintained at all. It is supposed that the lymphatic system received injury due to bee venom therapy, which provoked lymphedema at some point. The patient was not aware of the results of bee venom therapy that was performed on him several months ago.
It is supposed that enzyme (phospholipase A2) and active peptide (melittin) – constituents of bee venom - led to downregulation and non-selective cytotoxicity of the VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). It explains that directly cytotoxicity hit the already weakened lymphatic circulation and reticence of lymphangiogenesis caused due to VEGF down-regulation that ultimately caused lymphedema in the subject. Furthermore, lymphedema was induced due to interference brought in the intracellular pathway of lymphatic endothelial cells due to a reduction in the VEGF production, as it was recorded in the renal transplant recipient, who was subjected to everolimus medication.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6129717/
Combined Cytogenotoxic Effects of Bee Venom and Bleomycin on Rat Lymphocytes: An in Vitro study
Introduction
Various clinical studies have shown that melittin, an essential component of bee venom, has a direct anti-tumor effect in vitro and in vivo on different types of cancer responsible cells, including renal, liver, bone, cervical, breast and prostate cancer cells. Numerous clinical studies have demonstrated the unique mechanism of bee venom cytotoxicity, which includes induction of necrosis or apoptosis, the effect on growth inhibition of proliferation and cell cycle alterations.
In spite of these studies conducted to inspect various mechanisms of bee venom cytotoxicity on the cancer responsible cells, only a few reports indicate its effects on the normal healthy cells and its ability to alter the effects of cytogenetic toxicity of anti-cancer antibiotics on normal cells.
Several drugs have been tested, to diminish the risk of developing any sort of tumor due to regulation of apoptosis, one of the most famous chemotherapeutic agents is the BLM (bleomycin). It is a water-soluble antibiotic, which holds a gold standard chemotherapy regimen status and is typically used to treated carcinomas and lymphomas. But it has also been noted that nearly 46% of the subjects given BLM, later suffer from any sort of pulmonary toxicity.
Apoptosis has been described as the main subject of cell death, in cycling and resting human lymphocytes that are exposed to BLM due to caspase-8 activation. It highly suggests that there is direct involvement of an extrinsic pathway in the process of apoptosis.
Cancer cell lines that have been studied earlier predicted the mitigating effect of bee venom on the side effects of BLM. But there is no proper information available that tells us about the combined effect of bee venom and BLM on the healthy isolated lymphocytes. This study was specially conducted to determine the cytotoxicity (fluorescent microscopy examinations, LDH release percentage, quantitative expression examination of apoptosis-related genes- Bcl2 and caspase3 and MTT assay) and DNA fragmentation assay of bee venom and its involvement in the modulation of the BLM induced cellular alteration.
Method
Male Sprague Dawley rats, weighing between 120gm to 150gm, were chosen for this study. These male rats were obtained from the Laboratory Animal Farm of the Veterinary Medicine of Zagazig University. It was made sure that they became used to, of the laboratory environment and for this reason they were kept under observation for 2 weeks, clinical study was conducted after this period had elapsed.
Experimental mice were placed in stainless steel cages and subjected to a comfortable temperature of 21 to 24 degrees centigrade. It was also made sure that they got proper light and dark conditions for 12hours each. The humidity level was maintained around 50% to 60% and they were also given a standard diet throughout the clinical study. The welfare of the experimental rats was totally by the guidelines provided by the Animal Use Research Ethics Committee located in the Cairo University, Egypt.
Pure Egyptian bee venom was identified and acquired according to the guidelines of Schmidt by the Bee Research Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt. While BLM was acquired from the Nippon Kayaku Co., Japan. The remaining chemicals, culture media, and reagents used for the clinical study were of methodical grade and were obtained from Sigma Aldrich Co., USA.
ResultsIt was found that the cell survival had diminished in all of the treated groups when compared with the control group at both of the time points of incubation – 24hours and 72hours, but the BLM given exceeded bee venom potency in getting rid of the normal lymphocytes by nearly 12.5% during the first time point later, this gap was brought down to nearly 2.5% at the second time point. Anti-proliferative properties of both bee venom (0.685; 0.290) and BLM (0.497; 0.267) were established when compared with the control group (1.501; 0.946) at both of the time points, but the combination of BLM was more evident than bee venom alone.
It was observed that after 24hours of incubation, bee venom treated lymphocytes demonstrated a significant elevation in the LDH release (26.73 ± 1.67, P ≤ 0.05) on the other hand; the BLM treatment did not show any significant increase (13.55 ± 1.53). But after a joint exposure of BLM and BV, LDH release was known to be quite significant (21.45 ± 1.65) when compared to the value of the control group (12.93 ± 0.97). When 72hours had passed after incubation, the treated lymphocytes generated considerably more LDH in comparison to the control group. In the end, bee venom led to the generation of the highest LDH values.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4009237/
Conclusion
The results show that bee venom enhanced the potential of BLM for killing noncancerous cells. It must be understood that the cellular events observed, were not caused due to the activation of genotoxic alterations of the apoptotic machinery. Hence, it can be declared that bee venom can be easily used with customary chemotherapeutic agents to improve their efficiency and remove the chances of any sort of secondary malignancies.
This study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of bee venom (BV) and/or the chemotherapeutic agent bleomycin (BLM) on healthy isolated rat lymphocytes utilizing morphometric and molecular techniques. Using the Ficoll-Histopaque density gradient centrifugation technique, lymphocytes were isolated, divided into groups, and subjected to BV and/or BLM at incubation medium concentrations of 10 or 20 μg/mL respectively for 24 and 72 hrs. An MTT assay and fluorescent microscopy examinations were used to assess the cytotoxic effects. To determine the predominant type of BV and/or BLM-induced cell death, the LDH release assay was employed beside quantitative expression analyses of the apoptosis-related genes (Caspase-3 and Bcl-2). The genotoxic effects of the tested compounds were evaluated via a DNA fragmentation assay. The results of these assays demonstrated that BV potentiates BLM-induced cytotoxicity through increased LDH release and diminished cell viability. Nevertheless, BV significantly inhibited BLM-induced DNA damage. The results verify that BV significantly attenuates the genotoxic effects of BLM on noncancerous isolated rat lymphocytes but does not diminish BLM cytotoxicity.
This study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of bee venom (BV) and/or the chemotherapeutic agent bleomycin (BLM) on healthy isolated rat lymphocytes utilizing morphometric and molecular techniques. Using the Ficoll-Histopaque density gradient centrifugation technique, lymphocytes were isolated, divided into groups, and subjected to BV and/or BLM at incubation medium concentrations of 10 or 20 μg/mL respectively for 24 and 72 hrs. An MTT assay and fluorescent microscopy examinations were used to assess the cytotoxic effects. To determine the predominant type of BV and/or BLM-induced cell death, the LDH release assay was employed beside quantitative expression analyses of the apoptosis-related genes (Caspase-3 and Bcl-2). The genotoxic effects of the tested compounds were evaluated via a DNA fragmentation assay. The results of these assays demonstrated that BV potentiates BLM-induced cytotoxicity through increased LDH release and diminished cell viability. Nevertheless, BV significantly inhibited BLM-induced DNA damage. The results verify that BV significantly attenuates the genotoxic effects of BLM on noncancerous isolated rat lymphocytes but does not diminish BLM cytotoxicity.