Improving antibiotic activity against wound pathogens with manuka honey in vitro

PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e45600. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045600. Epub 2012 Sep 26.

Abstract

Following the discovery of synergistic action between oxacillin and manuka honey against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, this study was undertaken to search for further synergistic combinations of antibiotics and honey that might have potential in treating wounds. Fifteen antibiotics were tested with and without sublethal concentrations of manuka honey against each of MRSA and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using disc diffusion, broth dilution, E strip, chequerboard titration and growth curves. Five novel antibiotic and manuka honey combinations were found that improved antibacterial effectiveness in vitro and these offer a new avenue of future topical treatments for wound infections caused by these two important pathogens.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Topical
  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Honey*
  • Humans
  • Leptospermum / chemistry
  • Medicine, Traditional*
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects*
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / growth & development
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Microbial Viability / drug effects
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / drug effects*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / growth & development
  • Wound Infection / drug therapy

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents

Grants and funding

Funding was provided by the Waterloo Foundation (Charity number 1117535) (http://www.waterloofoundation.org.uk/) and the Sir Halley Stewart trust (Charity number 208491) (http://www.sirhalleystewart.org.uk/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.