Antibacterial Activity of Honey Against Bacteria Isolated from Respiratory Tract Infections
Keywords:
Honey, antibacterial sensitivity, respiratory infectionsAbstract
Objective
This study aims to verify any antibacterial activity of honey against bacteria concerned with Respiratory Tract Infections in Karachi, Pakistan.
Methodology
Three brands of commercial honey, one rude and two processed were used to determine their antibacterial activity against four bacterial species, Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=56), Pneumococci (n=34), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=16), and Staphylococcus aureus (n=20), isolated from Sputum and Throat swab specimens. The cork-bore method was employed using Mueller-Hinton agar, and the inhibition zones around the wells containing 20%w/v honey solutions were assessed using Imipenem disc (30ug) as the standard of antibacterial activity. Data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0.
Results
Significant antibacterial activity of honey was observed against the 4 RTI isolates, with higher sensitivities for ProcS (Salman s Honey) and Crude sample. The Crude sample yielded relatively superior inhibition zones than the other two specimens; it affected all 34 (100%) of Pneumococci, 29 of 56 (52%) Klebsiellae, 14 of 20 (70%) Staphylococci and 4 of 16 (25%) Pseudomonas isolates. Pneumococci were significantly more sensitive to all 3 honey specimens, while pseudomonas were least sensitive compared to other isolates.
Conclusion
Samples of honey showed promising in vitro antibacterial activity on some RTI isolates.
Downloads
References
Andersson DI, Hughes D. Persistence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations. FEMS microbiology
reviews. 2011; 35:901–11.
Molan PC. Potential of Honey in the Treatment of Wounds and Burns. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2001; 2:13–9.
Eddy JJ, Gideonsen MD. Topical honey for diabetic foot ulcers. J Fam Pract. 2005; 54:533–5.
Adebolu T. Effect of natural honey on local isolates of diarrhea causing bacteria in southwestern Nigeria. Afr J Biotechnol. 2005; 4:1172–4.
Bilsel Y, Bugra D, Yamaner S, Bulut T, Cevikbas U, Turkoglu U. Could honey have a place in colitis therapy? Dig Surg?;. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2002; 29:306–12.
Al-Waili NS. Therapeutic and prophylactic effects of crude honey on chronic seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. Eur J Med Res. 2001; 6:306–8.
Al Somal N, Coley KE, Molan PC, Hancock BM. Susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to the antibacterial activity of manuka honey. J R Soc Med. 1994; 87:9–12.
Essink-Bot ML, Pereira J, Packer C, Schwarzinger M, Burstrom K. Cross-national comparability of burden of disease estimates: the European Disability Weights Project. Bull World Health Organ. 2002; 80:644–52.
Mogyoros M. Challenges of managed care organizations in treating respiratory tract infections in an age of antibiotic resistance. Am J Manag Care. 2001; 7:S163–9.
“Pakistan acts to reduce child deaths from pneumonia". World Health Organization (WHO), International. [cited 2010 Aug 1].
Bogdanov S, Jurendic T, Sieber R, Gallmann P. Honey for nutrition and health: a review. J Am Coll Nutr. 2008; 27:677–89
Sheikh D, Zaman S, Naqvi SB, Sheikh MR, Ali G. Studies on the antimicrobial activity of honey. Pak J Pharm Sci. 1995; 8:51–62.
Halawani E SM. Survey of the antibacterial activity of Saudi and some international honeys. J Microbiol Antimicrob. 2011; 3:94–101.
Alandejani T, Marsan J, Ferris W, Slinger R, Chan F. Effectiveness of honey on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009; 141:114–8.
Rakhi KC, Deogade NG, Kawale M. Antimicrobial activity of Indian honey against clinical isolates. Asiatic J Biotech Res. 2010; 01:35–8.
Temaru E, Shimura S, Amano K, Karasawa T. Antibacterial activity of honey from stingless honeybees (Hymenoptera; Apidae; Meliponinae). Pol J Microbiol 2007; 56:281–5.
Gulfraz M, Iftikhar F, Raja S, Asif S, Mehmood S, Anwar Z, et al. Quality assessment and antimicrobial activity of various honey types of Pakistan. Afr J Biotech 2010; 9:6902-06.
Rahman MM, Richardson A, Sofian-Azirun M. Antibacterial activity of propolis and honey against Staphylococcus aureus and Eschurichia coli. Afr J Microbiol Res. 2010; 4:1872–8.
Qazi SA. Antibiotic strategies for developing countries: experience with acute respiratory tract infections in Pakistan. Clin Infect Dis. 1999; 28:214–8.
Molan, PC. The antibacterial activity of honey: 1.The nature of antibacterial activity of honey. Bee World. 1992; 73:5–28.
Molan, PC. The antibacterial activity of honey: 2. Variation in potency of antibacterial activity of honey. Bee World. 1992; 73:59–76.
Aurongzeb M, Azim MK. Antimicrobial properties of natural honey: a review of literature. Pakistan Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 2011; 44:118–24.
Kassim M, Achoui M, Mustafa MR, Mohd MA, Yusoff KM. Ellagic acid, phenolic acids, and flavonoids in Malaysian honey extracts demonstrate in vitro antiinflammatory activity. Nutr Res. 2010; 30:650-9.
Paul IM, Beiler J, McMonagle A, Shaffer ML, Duda L, Berlin CM. Effect of honey, dextromethorphan, and no treatment on nocturnal cough and sleep quality for coughing children and their parents. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007; 161:1140–6.
Shadkam MN, Mozaffari-Khosravi H, Mozayan MR. A comparison of the effect of honey, dextromethorphan, and diphenhydramine on nightly cough and sleep quality in children and their parents. J Altern Complement Med 2010; 16:787–93.
V, Kumar V, Abbas AK, Fausto N, Aster JC. Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 8th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2009.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Farhan Essaa Abdullah, Kiran Afab, Rabia Khanum, Sidrah Sohail Khan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Articles published in the Journal of Dow University of Health Sciences are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/4.0/. This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium; provided the original work is properly cited and initial publication in this journal. 
