Meeting Abstract
Vespa amino acid mixture (VAAM) is health product ostensibly based on a tropholactic product of giant Japanese hornet larval saliva, consisting of 17 amino acids in specific ratios. Previous studies suggest that this mixture may improve physical endurance by means of lipolysis or other mechanisms unknown. During the course of this study, both VAAM from the producer of VAAM-Power and lab prepared synthetic VAAM (sVAAM) were tested on the housefly (Musca domestica) using a swim test to measure physical endurance. While endurance increased by more than 275% in experimental flies, mortality increased significantly in these flies as a result of exposure. Upon testing, sVAAM yielded near identical results when compared to VAAM. Components of sVAAM were individually tested to determine specific agency effects. Further testing was also done to determine the impact of VAAM may be doing on the cellular and subcellular level. To do this, reconstituted mixtures of VAAM at various strengths were tested on a variety of animal and plant cells. The cells were tested at various concentration levels to determine whether or not VAAM influenced cellular apoptosis and viability. Over a one hour period, cell viability and apoptosis were noted when exposed to the reconstituted VAAM. Overall, an inverse relationship between viability and apoptosis was shown as levels of VAAM increased, indicating that VAAM may directly contribute to cellular death. This relationship was seen in the chicken blood cells, yeast cells, army flatworm cells, and cauliflower mitochondria. No such relationship was seen in the spinach chloroplasts. These results indicate that VAAM may overpower the mitochondria in such cells, leading to a burst of energy before burnout, in which case cell death ensues.
