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Research from
Australia
This Information was compiled from a paper.
"The potential for honey in the management of wound and infection"
by Shona Blair and Dee Carter, School of
Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney, NSW,
Australia
Honey has been used as a medicine
throughout the history of the human race and has been employed to
treat a wide variety of ailments. The use of honey as a wound
dressing has been particularly popular across many different
cultures and it is likely that much of this popularity stems from
the antibacterial properties of honey.
Over the last 30 years a large number of
reports have been published on in vitro studies investigating
the antibacterial activity of different types of honey. Over
50 different species of bacteria have been exposed to a wide variety
of honeys. The inhibitory concentrations (the percentage required to
prevent growth) ranged from 2 – 100% depending on the organism
and the type of honey used.
Most honeys that exhibit significant antibacterial activity
do so due to the production of hydrogen peroxide. Certain
Leptospermum honeys, Jellybush from Australia and Manuka
from New Zealand possess additional antibacterial activity of
an unusual nature, which is not due to high sugar content or
hydrogen peroxide, but to other floral components. This
‘non-peroxide type of activity is uncommon and there have been a
number researchers who have attempted to identify the active
component(s) from Leptospermum honey, but so far to date these have
been unsuccessful. This broad-spectrum antibacterial activity is
equally effective against antibiotic-sensitive and -resistant
pathogens. These honeys also has been found to have positive effects
on tissue growth and have been shown to stimulate healing in wounds.
( See the related article extracts on Cytokine release).
As
an alternative approach to the physical and chemical
separation techniques used by other laboratories Shona Blair and Dee
Carter used DNA microarrays to investigate the bacterial
targets of Leptospermum honey. (This method
examined the changes and activation of thousands of
microscopic spots that occur within the DNA sequences of the
bacteria when they were exposed to the Leptospermum honey) The
honey produced unique and wide ranging effects on the genomic
expression of E. coli and the organisms responded to the
stress in a complex manner with many genes being involved. When
compared with published data on the response of E. coli to a variety
of other stresses, there were differences between these and the
effects of this honey, indicating active Leptospermum honey
possesses antibacterial properties of a unique nature.
Blair, S, Carter, D. The potential for honey in the
management of wound and infection.
Journal of Australian
Infection Control. 2005; 10: 24-31
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