Citation: El-Seedi, H.R.; El-Wahed,
A.A.A.; Naggar, Y.A.; Saeed, A.;
Xiao, J.; Ullah, H.; Musharraf, S.G.;
Boskabady, M.H.; Cao, W.; Guo, Z.;
et al. Insights into the Role of Natural
Products in the Control of the Honey
Bee Gut Parasite (Nosema spp.).
Animals 2022, 12, 3062. https://
doi.org/10.3390/ani12213062
Academic Editors: María
Shantal Rodríguez-Flores,
Olga Escuredo and M. Carmen Seijo
Received: 22 September 2022
Accepted: 3 November 2022
Published: 7 November 2022
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animals
Review
Insights into the Role of Natural Products in the Control of the
Honey Bee Gut Parasite (Nosema spp.)
Hesham R. El-Seedi
1,2,3,4,
*, Aida A. Abd El-Wahed
5
, Yahya Al Naggar
6
, Aamer Saeed
7
, Jianbo Xiao
8
,
Hammad Ullah
9
, Syed G. Musharraf
10
, Mohammad H. Boskabady
11,12
, Wei Cao
13,14
, Zhiming Guo
15
,
Maria Daglia
1,9
, Abeer El Wakil
16
, Kai Wang
17
and Shaden A. M. Khalifa
18,
*
1
International Research Center for Food Nutrition and Safety, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
2
Pharmacognosy Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University,
P.O. Box 591, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
3
International Joint Research Laboratory of Intelligent Agriculture and Agri-Products Processing
(Jiangsu University), Jiangsu Education Department, Nanjing 210024, China
4
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Koom 32512, Egypt
5
Department of Bee Research, Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre,
Giza 12627, Egypt
6
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt
7
Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
8
Department of Analytical Chemistry and Food Science, University of Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
9
Department of Pharmacy, University of Napoli Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
10
H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences,
University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
11
Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad 13131-99137, Iran
12
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad
13131-99137, Iran
13
College of Food Science and Technology, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
14
Bee Product Research Center of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an 710065, China
15
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
16
Department of Biological and Geological Sciences, Faculty of Education,
Alexandria University, Alexandria 215260, Egypt
17
Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
18
Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, SE-106 91
Stockholm, Sweden
* Correspondence: hesham.el-seedi@farmbio.uu.se (H.R.E.-S.); shaden.khalifa@regionstockholm.se (S.A.M.K.);
Tel.: +46-(700)-434-343 (H.R.E.-S.)
Simple Summary: The most significant pollinators of crops globally are thought to be honey bees.
Unfortunately, bee loss is an issue brought on by a variety of circumstances, such as pesticide use,
poor nutrition, parasitic mites, and climate change. The spore-forming unicellular fungi Nosema apis
and N. ceranae cause nosemosis, a serious microsporidian disease of adult European honey bees.
The disease has an effect on honeybee productivity and reproduction. Antibiotic fumagillin is still
used in some countries for the treatment of Nosema sp. infection. However, using fumagillin has
adverse effects on human health, as well as on honey bee physiology. Therefore, there are trends to
develop non-antibiotic alternatives with already existing therapeutics. The present work attempts to
emphasize the natural compounds now available for treating nosemosis.
Abstract: The honey bee is an important economic insect due to its role in pollinating many
agricultural plants. Unfortunately, bees are susceptible to many pathogens, including pests,
parasites, bacteria, and viruses, most of which exert a destructive impact on thousands of colonies.
The occurrence of resistance to the therapeutic substances used against these organisms is rising, and
the residue from these chemicals may accumulate in honey bee products, subsequently affecting the
human health. There is current advice to avoid the use of antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, and other
drugs in bees, and therefore, it is necessary to develop alternative strategies for the treatment of bee
diseases. In this context, the impact of nosema diseases (nosemosis) on bee health and the negative
insults of existing drugs are discussed. Moreover, attempts to combat nosema through the use
Animals 2022, 12, 3062. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12213062 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/animals