Based on these studies, it can be concluded that the extract on the strips actually sealed the first immune barriers and limited the penetration of pathogenic factors through these barriers; therefore, the body had no need to respond to the appearance of foreign proteins by producing appropriate enzymes. In the case of the extract in syrup, the bee’s organism strengthened the internal immune mechanisms after being absorbed from the intestine and distributed by the hemolymph throughout the body. Activities of biomarkers: ALT, AST, ASP were in most cases higher in the bees fed with the hemp extract in the syrup and lower for the bees in group with extract on the strip, compared to the activity in the control bees. Biomarkers determine the functioning, viability, and susceptibility to damage of fat body cells, which is called the “invertebrate liver”. One of the most important biomarkers is the level of ALT. Increasing its concentration is often caused by damage to cells that play the role of the liver in insects, i.e., the fat body cells.
The lowering of the ALT value on the 7th day of supplementation in both experimental groups proves the potential protection of cells against damage in relation to the body without supplementation. In the case of supplementation on the strips, we observe a reduction in the value of other biomarkers, such as AST, ASP, due to the previously mentioned sealing of the insect cuticle and the creation of an external protective barrier. In the case of supplementation of the extract in syrup, the increased parameters of biomarkers may result from the consumption of a non-standard substance to which the enzymes are not originally adapted and may cause deviations from the norm. In order to determine the further influence of hemp extract on these parameters, their height should be examined in the future in bees older than 7 days. Additionally, the increased activity in relation to the control group should not be negatively considered. The research of Sokol indicates that biomarkers in bees may show the opposite tendency towards mammalian organisms, e.g., have decreased activity during infection with V. destructor . CBD , a substance responsible for sedative effects, has the ability to act intracellularly on mitochondria and nuclear receptors due to cannabidiol lipophilic nature. Hemp extract with syrup may turn out to be more energetic thanks to the influence of active substances on cellular organelles, i.e., mitochondria , which would result in lower consumption of the syrup and next in lower glucose concentration .
In addition, hemp extract, depending on the base , may cause changes and a slowdown of sugar metabolism due to the content of fats that digest slower, and as a result the supplied sugar could be metabolized by the body for a longer time . This may be a factor in reducing the glucose concentration in our study. Confirmation of the positive effect of a lower consumption of enriched syrup may be the fact that higher food intake usually occurs in the case of infections, e.g., with microsporidia of Nosema spp., where the energy economy is disturbed, and oxidative stress and thermoregulation disorders are undoubtedly a negative effect. Bees suffering from nosemosis consume huge amounts of food . This symptom is the opposite reaction to the results obtained in our supplementation. The increase in urea concentrates in the case of the administration of cannabis in syrup may be related to the increased supply of protein and lipids in the diet of experimental bees compared to control bees, whose main food was sugar. Therefore, we can also observe a slight increase in urea concentration in relation to the control for supplementation with strips due to less direct exposure of bees to the extract compared to administration in syrup. Our results in this case are opposite to the results obtained by Strachecka . Coenzyme and curcumin had a lower effect on the level of urea in the bees’ hemolymph, causing an increase in uric acid during the tests. Both substances contain ketone groups which may suggest that the indicated trends are specific for these compounds. Digestion of hemp extract having a different chemical structure compared to the supplementation above may take place in a different way, the effect of which was visible in the increased concentrationof urea, and maybe lowered in the case of uric acid.
To confirm this, studies should be carried out on the concentration of uric acid in supplementation with hemp extract. Plants are sources of the many natural bioactive compounds, which are of increasing interest for their pharmacological potential including antioxidant, antitumor, antiinflammatory and antimicrobial activities. Oils extracted from the seeds of various plants have attracted much attention in recent years due to their nutritional and pharmacological properties. Hemp is an annual plant of the Cannabaceae family that is cultivated for a range of purposes, including the production of fiber, shives, secondary metabolites , and the nutritionally valuable seeds . The hemp plant contains a rich profile of bioactive phytochemicals, including cannabinoids, terpenes, sugars, steroids, phenols, flavonoids, and nitrogenous compounds . Of special interest is the composition of the highly nutritional hemp seeds, which are traditionally consumed raw or in the form of oil containing a unique fatty acid profile, which is extracted from the seed by cold pressing . The extracted hemp seed oil contains linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid at a ratio of 2.5:1–3:1; its consumption is considered to provide a cardioprotective effect and improve the lipid profile. The α-linolenic acid that can be found in hemp seed oil has anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory activities , while the profile of fatty acids of hemp seed oil was also demonstrated to have positive effects on skin appearance and function .
Antioxidant phytomolecules, such as tocopherols, phenols, polyphenols, and lignanamides in the oil, are important for cell protection against oxidative stress.Since oxidative stress has been etiologically implicated in a wide range of medical conditions and its treatment has been proven to positively affect the course and progression of diverse disease states, different plants have been widely investigated for their potential as antioxidants. Reactive oxygen species are produced in cells as part of the normal physiological and metabolic processes, and cells have universal antioxidative protective mechanisms that maintain redox balance . Under stress conditions, the balance between reactive species production and antioxidant defense is disturbed and the result is the development of oxidative stress.