The antibacterial activities of honey

Honey is a powerful antimicrobial agent with a wide range of effects. Various components contribute to the antibacterial efficacy of honey: the sugar content; polyphenol compounds; hydrogen peroxide; 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds; and bee defensin-1. All of these elements are present at different concentrations depending on the source of nectar, bee type, and storage. These components work synergistically, allowing honey to be potent against a variety of microorganisms including multidrug resistant bacteria and modulate their resistance to antimicrobial agents. The effectiveness and potency of honey against microorganisms depends on the type of honey produced, which is contingent on its botanical origin, the health of the bee, its origin, and processing method. The application of antibiotics with honey yielded better antimicrobial potential and synergistic effects were noted against biofilms. In medicine, honey has been used in the treatment of surface wounds, burns, and inflammation, and has a synergistic effect when applied with antibiotics. Tissue repair is enhanced by the low pH of honey (3.5–4): causing a reduction in protease activity on the wound site, elevating oxygen release from hemoglobin and stimulating fibroblast and macrophage activity. Furthermore, H₂O₂ has antiseptic effects, and it disinfects the wound site and stimulates production of vascular endothelial growth factor. The use of honey will clean wounds or burn areas from free radicals and reduces scarring and contractures. The anti-inflammatory and antibacterial potential of honey will keep the injured area moist and as such prevents it from deterioration and fibrosis. Honey can promote fast healing and reduce scarring and is very convenient for plastic surgery. Skin maceration is protected by honey due to its high osmolarity and because it keeps the injury moist. In non-infected areas, honey still reduced pain and inflammation. In general, the use of honey in medical settings has reduced economic loss and provided proven economic benefits by lowering direct costs in comparison to conventional treatments and by using less antibiotics, faster healing and less hospitalization stay. This review is intended to provide an overview of the antibacterial activities of honey and its applications.     

Honey: Single food stuff comprises many drugs

Honey is a natural food item produced by honey bees. Ancient civilizations considered honey as a God gifted prestigious product. Therefore, a huge literature is available regarding honey importance in almost all religions. Physically, honey is a viscous and jelly material having no specific color. Chemically, honey is a complex blend of many organic and inorganic compounds such as sugars, proteins, organic acids, pigments, minerals, and many other elements. Honey use as a therapeutic agent is as old as human civilization itself. Prior to the appearance of present day drugs, honey was conventionally used for treating many diseases. At this instant, the modern research has proven the medicinal importance of honey. It has broad spectrum anti-biotic, anti-viral and anti-fungal activities. Honey prevents and kills microbes through different mechanism such as elevated pH and enzyme activities. Till now, no synthetic compound that works as anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal drugs has been reported in honey yet it works against bacteria, viruses and fungi while no anti-protozoal activity has been reported. Potent anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancerous activities of honey have been reported. Honey is not only significant as anti-inflammatory drug that relieve inflammation but also protect liver by degenerative effects of synthetic anti-inflammatory drugs. This article reviews physico-chemical properties, traditional use of honey as medicine and mechanism of action of honey in the light of modern scientific medicinal knowledge.     

Honey and diabetes mellitus: Obstacles and challenges – Road to be repaired

Background and objectiveSince ancient times, honey has been used due to its nutritional and therapeutic value. The role of honey has been acknowledged in the scientific literature however, its use has been controversially discussed and has not been well accepted in modern medicine especially for diabetic patients. This study aimed to investigate the role of honey in diabetic patients.MethodsIn this study, we identified 107 research articles from data based search engines including “PubMed”, “ISI-Web of Science”, “Embase” and “Google Scholar”. The research papers were selected by using the primary key-terms including “Honey”, “Honey bee” and “Diabetes Mellitus”. The research documents in which “Honey” and “Diabetes Mellitus” were debated are included. After screening, we reviewed 66 papers and finally we selected 35 studies which met the inclusion criteria and the remaining documents were excluded.ResultsThis study investigated the preclinical, clinical, human and animal model studies on honey and diabetes mellitus and found that honey decreases the fasting serum glucose, increases the sting C-peptide and 2-h postprandial C-peptide. Although, there is a dearth of data and literature also contrary discussed the use of honey in diabetic patients.ConclusionHoney decreases the fasting serum glucose, increases fasting C-peptide and 2-h postprandial C-peptide. Honey had low glycemic index and peak incremental index in diabetic patients. The use of honey in diabetic patients still has obstacles and challenges and needs more large sample sized, multi-center clinical controlled studies to reach better conclusions.     

生态条件的多样性变化对蜜蜂生存的影响

蜜蜂在整个生态系统中起着重要的传花授粉作用,是生态链中不可或缺的物种。随着现代农业的发展,蜜蜂赖以生存的环境遭到破坏,继而引发蜜蜂数量大幅减少,影响了蜂种的生存与可持续发展。总结了近年来生态条件的变化,归纳了影响蜜蜂生存的主要因素,分析了蜜蜂生存艰难的原因,提出了蜜蜂生存的关键问题,并展望了未来维持蜜蜂强群的主要研究方向。     

Insect natural products and processes: new treatments for human disease

In this overview, some of the more significant recent developments in bioengineering natural products from insects with use or potential use in modern medicine are described, as well as in utilisation of insects as models for studying essential mammalian processes such as immune responses to pathogens. To date, insects have been relatively neglected as sources of modern drugs although they have provided valuable natural products, including honey and silk, for at least 4-7000 years, and have featured in folklore medicine for thousands of years. Particular examples of Insect Folk Medicines will briefly be described which have subsequently led through the application of molecular and bioengineering techniques to the development of bioactive compounds with great potential as pharmaceuticals in modern medicine. Insect products reviewed have been derived from honey, venom, silk, cantharidin, whole insect extracts, maggots, and blood-sucking arthropods. Drug activities detected include powerful antimicrobials against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and HIV, as well as anti-cancer, anti-angiogenesis and anti-coagulant factors and wound healing agents. Finally, the many problems in developing these insect products as human therapeutic drugs are considered and the possible solutions emerging to these problems are described.     

Accumulation of human EGF in nectar of transformed plants of Nicotiana langsdorffii x N. sanderae and transfer to honey by bees

Honey has been used successfully in wound healing for thousands of years. The peptide hormone human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) is also known to have a beneficial effect in various wound healing processes via mechanisms that differ from those for honey. In this study, we show that hEGF can be incorporated into honey via nectar. Plants of Nicotiana langsdorffii × N. sanderae were transformed with the gene for hEGF, equipped with a nectary‐targeted promoter and a signal sequence for secretion to nectar. These plants accumulated hEGF in the nectar. The maximum hEGF concentration recorded with ELISA in these plants is 2.5 ng·ml^?1. There is a significant linear relationship (P < 0.001) between hEGF concentration and induction of hEGF‐receptor phosphorylation. Since the flower morphology of these plants did not allow production of honey from their nectar, we used feeding solutions, spiked with synthetic hEGF, to study transfer of this peptide into honey through bee activity. Transfer of hEGF from a feeding solution to honey by bees occurred with retention of the hEGF concentration and the capacity to induce hEGF‐receptor phosphorylation. These observations indicate that plants can function as a production platform for honey containing biologically active peptides, which may enhance wound healing and other biological processes.     

Neuroprotective features of carnosine in oxidative driven diseases

Carnosine (β-alanyl-L-histidine) is a natural dipeptide widely and abundantly distributed in excitable tissues of several animal tissues. Although its physiological role has not been completely understood yet, many beneficial actions have been attributed to carnosine, such as being an antioxidant, antiglycating and ion-chelating agent, a wound healing promoter and a free-radical scavenger. The role of carnosine in the neuroprotection of oxidative stress-driven disorders has been reviewed. The effects of carnosine have been extensively studied both in vivo and in vitro models of cerebral damages, such as neurodegenerative disorders and hypoxia-ischemia injuries. Beside the classical sacrificial agent, carnosine has been reevaluated as a molecular chaperon and an inducer of antioxidant systems in oxidative stress conditions. Thus, beneficial effects on most of the common biochemical events that characterize neurological disorders make carnosine a very promising molecule among all the endogenous compounds in the treatment and/or prevention of oxidative driven diseases.     

Antibacterial properties of Apis dorsata honey against some bacterial pathogens

Now-a-days, different bioproducts are being used extensively for the welfare of mankind. However, for proper utility of any bioproduct, the exact biotechnological potential of that product should be explored. Honey is produced in almost every country on the planet. It has long been used as a medicinal agent in addition to its broader use as a popular food throughout the human history. It can be used to treat various diseases without causing any negative side effects. In the present study, the antibacterial potential of honey produced by A. dorsata was investigated at its variable concentrations (25, 50, 75 and 100 %) against four pathogenic bacterial species. The highest antimicrobial action was seen against E. coli at 100 % concentration of the honey while showing zone of inhibition of 37.5 ± 3.5 mm. However, the lowest antibacterial action was observed against E. faecalis. The overall order of growth inhibition by the honey at its 100 % concentration for the implicated bacterial species appeared as: E. coli ? P. aeruginosa ? S. aureus ? E. faecalis. The honey couldn’t show antibacterial action at its 25 % concentration. Our findings of the present study will be helpful for utility of the honey as an alternative medicine for curing different complications caused by microbial pathogens.     

Arjunolic acid: a novel phytomedicine with multifunctional therapeutic applications

Herbal plants with antioxidant activities are widely used in Ayurvedic medicine for cardiac and other problems. Arjunolic acid is one such novel phytomedicine with multifunctional therapeutic applications. It is a triterpenoid saponin, isolated earlier from Terminalia arjuna and later from Combretum nelsonii, Leandra chaeton etc. Arjunolic acid is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger. The scientific basis for the use of arjunolic acid as cardiotonic in Ayurvedic medicine is proven by its vibrant functions such as prevention of myocardial necrosis, platelet aggregation and coagulation and lowering of blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol levels. Its antioxidant property combined with metal chelating property protects organs from metal and drug induced toxicity. It also plays an effective role in exerting protection against both type I and type II diabetes and also ameliorates diabetic renal dysfunctions. Its therapeutic multifunctionality is shown by its wound healing, antimutagenic and antimicrobial activity. The mechanism of cytoprotection conferred by arjunolic acid can be explained by its property to reduce the oxidative stress by enhancing the antioxidant levels. Apart from its pathophysiological functions, it possesses dynamic insecticidal property and it is used as a structural molecular framework in supramolecular chemistry and nanoscience. Esters of ajunolic acid function as gelators of a wide variety of organic liquids. Experimental studies demonstrate the versatile effects of arjunolic acid, but still, further investigations are necessary to identify the functional groups responsible for its multivarious effects and to study the molecular mechanisms as well as the probable side effects/toxicity owing to its long-term use. Though the beneficial role of this triterpenoid has been assessed from various angles, a comprehensive review of its effects on biochemistry and organ pathophysiology is lacking and this forms the rationale of this review.     

Honey--a novel antidiabetic agent

Diabetes mellitus remains a burden worldwide in spite of the availability of numerous antidiabetic drugs. Honey is a natural substance produced by bees from nectar. Several evidence-based health benefits have been ascribed to honey in the recent years. In this review article, we highlight findings which demonstrate the beneficial or potential effects of honey in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), on the gut microbiota, in the liver, in the pancreas and how these effects could improve glycemic control and metabolic derangements. In healthy subjects or patients with impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes mellitus, various studies revealed that honey reduced blood glucose or was more tolerable than most common sugars or sweeteners. Pre-clinical studies provided more convincing evidence in support of honey as a potential antidiabetic agent than clinical studies did. The not-too-impressive clinical data could mainly be attributed to poor study designs or due to the fact that the clinical studies were preliminary. Based on the key constituents of honey, the possible mechanisms of action of antidiabetic effect of honey are proposed. The paper also highlights the potential impacts and future perspectives on the use of honey as an antidiabetic agent. It makes recommendations for further clinical studies on the potential antidiabetic effect of honey. This review provides insight on the potential use of honey, especially as a complementary agent, in the management of diabetes mellitus. Hence, it is very important to have well-designed, randomized controlled clinical trials that investigate the reproducibility (or otherwise) of these experimental data in diabetic human subjects.     

Carnosine enhances diabetic wound healing in the db/db mouse model of type 2 diabetes

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a progressive disorder with severe late complications. Normal wound healing involves a series of complex and well-orchestrated molecular events dictated by multiple factors. In diabetes, wound healing is grossly impaired due to defective, and dysregulated cellular and molecular events at all phases of wound healing resulting in chronic wounds that fail to heal. Carnosine, a dipeptide of alanine and histidine and an endogenous antioxidant is documented to accelerate healing of wounds and ulcers. However, not much is known about its role in wound healing in diabetes. Therefore, we studied the effect of carnosine in wound healing in db/db mice, a mice model of Type 2 DM. Six millimeter circular wounds were made in db/db mice and analyzed for wound healing every other day. Carnosine (100?mg/kg) was injected (I.P.) every day and also applied locally. Treatment with carnosine enhanced wound healing significantly, and wound tissue analysis showed increased expression of growth factors and cytokines genes involved in wound healing. In vitro studies with human dermal fibroblasts and microvascular-endothelial cells showed that carnosine increases cell viability in presence of high glucose. These effects, in addition to its known role as an antioxidant and a precursor for histamine synthesis, provide evidence for a possible therapeutic use of carnosine in diabetic wound healing.     

Honey as a substitute for formalin?

Formalin has long been the standard fixative for clinical routines worldwide. After the Formaldehyde Standard became law in the US in 1987, as a result of increasing concerns about the potential carcinogenicity of formaldehyde, attempts have been made to find safer alternatives. Alcoholic formalin is a useful fixative, because in addition to fixation, dehydration also is begun. For centuries, honey has been known to be an antibacterial agent with the potential to preserve compounds without harmful effects on its users. We compared the effects of honey fixation with other routine fixatives using conventional histochemical and immunohistochemical staining methods. Our results demonstrated that tissues fixed in either honey or alcoholic formalin and 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF) have similar histomorphology. Honey fixation showed minor histomorphological differences among the various tissues; however, it did not influence affect correct diagnostic conclusions. Our results suggested that honey can be used as a safe alternative to formalin in histopathology.     

The antimycobacterial effect of honey: an in vitro study.

Avicenna recommended honey in the treatment of tuberculosis. Honey has potent bactericidal activity against many pathogenic organisms, but its antimycobacterial effect has never been studied. In this study the antimycobacterial effect of honey was evaluated in vitro. Standard Lowenstein-Jenson media and L-J media containing various concentrations of honey were prepared. Two bacilli from positive cultures and two from positive smears of the affected patients were inoculated on each of the prepared plates. It was demonstrated that the growth of mycobacteria was inhibited by adding 10% honey to the media. Mycobacteria did not grow in culture media containing 10% and 20% honey while it grew in culture media containing 5%, 2.5% and 1% honey. The good antimycobacterial effect, sterility, low cost, and easy availability of honey makes it an ideal antimycobacterial agent.     

NRF2 signalling pathway: New insights and progress in the field of wound healing

As one of the most common pathological processes in the clinic, wound healing has always been an important topic in medical research. Improving the wound healing environment, shortening the healing time and promoting fast and effective wound healing are hot and challenging issues in clinical practice. The nuclear factor-erythroid–related factor 2 (NFE2L2 or NRF2) signalling pathway reduces oxidative damage and participates in the regulation of anti-oxidative gene expression in the process of oxidative stress and thus improves the cell protection. Activation of the NRF2 signalling pathway increases the resistance of the cell to chemical carcinogens and inflammation. The signal transduction pathway regulates anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects by regulating calcium ions, mitochondrial oxidative stress, autophagy, ferroptosis, pyroptosis and apoptosis. In this article, the role of the NRF2 signalling pathway in wound healing and its research progress in recent years are reviewed. In short, the NRF2 signalling pathway has crucial clinical significance in wound healing and is worthy of further study.     

微小RNA miR-21在皮肤创伤愈合中的研究进展

微小RNA是一类真核细胞中广泛存在的内源性转录后调控分子,其在细胞的增殖、分化、凋亡、迁移等过程中发挥了重要的调控作用。皮肤创伤修复涉及复杂的细胞与分子的相互作用网络。近年来研究表明micro RNAs在皮肤创伤修复中发挥调控作用,引人关注。miR-21作为重要的癌基因是目前研究的最多的miRNAs分子之一,其在皮肤创伤修复中的作用研究也越来越受到重视。研究表明miR-21参与了细胞增殖与迁移、炎症反应、血管生成和细胞外基质合成等重要修复相关事件的调控。因此,阐明miR-21分子在正常皮肤创伤愈合中的作用,厘清miR-21表达失调在修复不足和修复过度中的功能,将深化我们对于皮肤创伤愈合基本理论的认识,并为促进创面愈合与防治修复不足和过度提供潜在的治疗靶点。本文就miR-21分子在正常皮肤创伤修复、慢性难愈性创面和增生性瘢痕中作用的研究进展进行综述展望。     

Electrospinning of honey and propolis for wound care

Phytochemicals and naturally derived compounds, such as plant extracts and bee products, are regarded as complementary and alternative medicines for the treatment of skin wounds, due to their antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. In recent years, it has been shown that dressings impregnated with honey (particularly Manuka honey) are effective for the topical treatment of wounds and burns, and some of them are currently used in clinics. This has stimulated the development of more advanced dressings based on polymeric nanofibres that can release honey and other bee products (like propolis) to promote wound healing. In this review, the current literature on the electrospinning of honey and propolis is analyzed and the effectiveness of the resulting dressings to inhibit bacterial growth and stimulate cellular proliferation and tissue repair is discussed.     

Protective effect of Indian honey on acetaminophen induced oxidative stress and liver toxicity in rat

The present study was undertaken to investigate the protective effect of Indian honey on acetaminophen induced oxidative stress and liver damage in rat. Honey serves as a source of natural medicine, which is effective to reducing the risk of heart disease, liver toxicity and inflammatory processes. The hepatoprotective activity of the Indian honey was determined by assessing levels of Serum transaminases, ALP and total bilirubin. Finally, the effects of the test substances on the antioxidant enzymes of the liver were also studied by assessing changes in the level of reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase. Serum transaminase, ALP and total bilirubin level were significantly elevated and the antioxidant status in liver such as activities of SOD, CAT, GPx and the levels of GSH were declined significantly in APAP alone treated animals. Pretreatment with honey and silymarin prior to the administration of APAP significantly prevented the increase in the serum levels of hepatic enzyme markers and reduced oxidative stress. The histopathological evaluation of the livers also revealed that honey reduced the incidence of liver lesions induced by APAP. Results suggest that the Indian honey protects liver against oxidative damage and it could be used as an effective hepatoprotector against APAP induced liver damage.     

Viral impacts on honey bee populations: A review

Honey bee is vital for pollination and ecological services, boosting crops productivity in terms of quality and quantity and production of colony products: wax, royal jelly, bee venom, honey, pollen and propolis. Honey bees are most important plant pollinators and almost one third of diet depends on bee’s pollination, worth billions of dollars. Hence the role that honey bees have in environment and their economic importance in food production, their health is of dominant significance. Honey bees can be infected by various pathogens like: viruses, bacteria, fungi, or infested by parasitic mites. At least more than 20 viruses have been identified to infect honey bees worldwide, generally from Dicistroviridae as well as Iflaviridae families, like ABPV (Acute Bee Paralysis Virus), BQCV (Black Queen Cell Virus), KBV (Kashmir Bee Virus), SBV (Sacbrood Virus), CBPV (Chronic bee paralysis virus), SBPV (Slow Bee Paralysis Virus) along with IAPV (Israeli acute paralysis virus), and DWV (Deformed Wing Virus) are prominent and cause infections harmful for honey bee colonies health. This issue about honey bee viruses demonstrates remarkably how diverse this field is, and considerable work has to be done to get a comprehensive interpretation of the bee virology.     

Activities of different types of Thai honey on pathogenic bacteria causing skin diseases,tyrosinase enzyme and generating free radicals

Background

Honey is a natural product obtained from the nectar that is collected from flowers by bees. It has several properties, including those of being food and supplementary diet, and it can be used in cosmetic products. Honey imparts pharmaceutical properties since it has antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The antibacterial and antioxidant activities of Thai honey were investigated in this study.

Results

The honey from longan flower (source No. 1) gave the highest activity on MRSA when compared to the other types of honey, with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 12.5% (v/v) and minimum bactericidal concentration of 25% (v/v).Moreover, it was found that MRSA isolate 49 and S. aureus were completely inhibited by the 50% (v/v) longan honey (source No. 1) at 8 and 20 hours of treatment, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that the honey from coffee pollen (source No. 4) showed the highest phenolic and flavonoid compounds by 734.76 mg gallic/kg of honey and 178.31 mg quercetin/kg of honey, respectively. The antioxidant activity of the honey obtained from coffee pollen was also found to be the highest, when investigated using FRAP and DPPH assay, with 1781.77 mg FeSO₄•7H₂O/kg of honey and 86.20 mg gallic/kg of honey, respectively. Additionally, inhibition of tyrosinase enzyme was found that honey from coffee flower showed highest inhibition by 63.46%.

Conclusions

Honey demonstrates tremendous potential as a useful source that provides anti-free radicals, anti-tyrosinase and anti-bacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria causing skin diseases.