Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jun 1;46(11):1677-82.
doi: 10.1086/587892.

Medical-grade honey kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria in vitro and eradicates skin colonization

Paulus H S Kwakman  1 , Johannes P C Van den Akker, Ahmet Güçlü, Hamid Aslami, Jan M Binnekade, Leonie de Boer, Laura Boszhard, Frederique Paulus, Pauline Middelhoek, Anje A te Velde, Christina M J E Vandenbroucke-Grauls, Marcus J Schultz, Sebastian A J Zaat
Affiliations

Medical-grade honey kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria in vitro and eradicates skin colonization

Paulus H S Kwakman et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Antibiotic resistance among microbes urgently necessitates the development of novel antimicrobial agents. Since ancient times, honey has been used successfully for treatment of infected wounds, because of its antibacterial activity. However, large variations in the in vitro antibacterial activity of various honeys have been reported and hamper its acceptance in modern medicine.

Methods: We assessed the in vitro bactericidal activity of Revamil (Bfactory), a medical-grade honey produced under controlled conditions, and assessed its efficacy for reduction of forearm skin colonization in healthy volunteers in a within-subject-controlled trial.

Results: With Bacillus subtilis as a test strain, we demonstrated that the variation in bactericidal activity of 11 batches of medical-grade honey was <2-fold. Antibiotic-susceptible and -resistant isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, and Klebsiella oxytoca were killed within 24 h by 10%-40% (vol/vol) honey. After 2 days of application of honey, the extent of forearm skin colonization in healthy volunteers was reduced 100-fold (P < .001), and the numbers of positive skin cultures were reduced by 76% (P < .001).

Conclusions: Revamil is a promising topical antimicrobial agent for prevention or treatment of infections, including those caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

-