الفهرس 
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Abstract
Melittin (MEL) is a 26-amino acid peptide with numerous biological
activities. Paraquat (PQ) is one of the most widely used herbicides,
although it is extremely toxic to humans. To date, PQ poisoning has no
effective treatment, and therefore the current study aimed to assess for the
first time the possible effects of MEL on PQ-induced lung injuries in
mice. Mice received a single intra-peritoneal (IP) injection of PQ (30
mg/kg), followed by IP treatment with MEL (0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg) twice
per week for four consecutive weeks. Histological alterations, oxidative
stress, and apoptosis in the lungs were studied. Hematoxylin and eosin
(H&E) staining indicated that MEL markedly reduced lung injuries
induced by PQ. Furthermore, treatment with MEL increased superoxide
dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)
activity, and decreased malonaldehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO)
levels in lung tissue homogenates. Moreover, immune-histochemical
staining showed that B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and surviving
expressions were upregulated after MEL treatment, while Ki-67
expression was downregulated. The high dose of MEL was more
effective than the low dose in all experiments. In summary, MEL
efficiently reduced PQ-induced lung injuries in mice. Specific
pharmacological examinations are required to determine the effectiveness
of MEL in cases of human PQ poisoning.