Clinical Significance of Manuka and Medical-Grade Honey for Antibiotic-Resistant Infections: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is an ever-increasing global issue that has the potential to overtake cancer as the leading cause of death worldwide by 2050. With the passing of the “golden age” of antibiotic discovery, identifying alternative treatments to commonly used antimicrobials is more important than ever. Honey has been used as a topical wound treatment for millennia and more recently has been formulated into a series of medical-grade honeys for use primarily for wound and burn treatment. In this systematic review, we examined the effectiveness of differing honeys as an antimicrobial treatment against a variety of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial species. We analysed 16 original research articles that included a total of 18 different types of honey against 32 different bacterial species, including numerous MDR strains. We identified that Surgihoney was the most effective honey, displaying minimum inhibitory concentrations as low as 0.1% (w/v); however, all honeys reviewed showed a high efficacy against most bacterial species analysed. Importantly, the MDR status of each bacterial strain had no impact on the susceptibility of the organism to honey. Hence, the use of honey as an antimicrobial therapy should be considered as an alternative approach for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections.

Comparing the Antimicrobial Actions of Greek Honeys from the Island of Lemnos and Manuka Honey from New Zealand against Clinically Important Bacteria

“…No clear correlation between the antimicrobial results of the two tested methods (i.e., agar-well diffusion and broth microdilution) could be established. Until now, many studies have explored the antimicrobial actions of manuka and other medical-grade honeys, mainly to be used as alternative therapies to treat antibiotic-resistant infections [ 3 , 23 ]. With respect to manuka, this action is known to be related to the value of the Unique Manuka Factor (UMF), which is correlated with the MGO and total phenols content of this honey [ 3 ].…”

Pharmaceutical Prospects of Bee Products: Special Focus on Anticancer, Antibacterial, Antiviral, and Antiparasitic Properties

“…An increasing number of reports describing the development of bacterial and viral resistance, including in the form of polymicrobial infections, against currently available antibiotics and antivirals has urged the use of alternative products with potential activities against those two types of pathogens [141][142][143][144]. One of the commodities equipped with such activities are bee products [3,[145][146][147][148][149]. Bee products such as honey, propolis, bee pollen, royal jelly, beebread, and bee venom have been broadly used in the traditional healing practices, including in the management of infectious diseases [49,147,150,151].…”

Novel Treatments and Preventative Strategies Against Food-Poisoning Caused by Staphylococcal Species

“…Honey is another well-studied natural product with antimicrobial activity [104]. Honey is composed mainly of sugars, but many other compounds are part of this natural product (Table 1).…”