TY - JOUR
T1 - How honey kills bacteria
AU - Kwakman, Paulus H. S.
AU - te Velde, Anje A.
AU - de Boer, Leonie
AU - Speijer, Dave
AU - Vandenbroucke-Grauls, Christina M. J. E.
AU - Zaat, Sebastian A. J.
PY - 2010/7
Y1 - 2010/7
N2 - With the rise in prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, honey is increasingly valued for its antibacterial activity. To characterize all bactericidal factors in a medical-grade honey, we used a novel approach of successive neutralization of individual honey bactericidal factors. All bacteria tested, including Bacillus subtilis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli, ciprofloxacin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, were killed by 10-20% (v/v) honey, whereas >40% (v/v) of a honey-equivalent sugar solution was required for similar activity. Honey accumulated up to 5.62 +/- 0.54 mM H2O2 and contained 0.25 +/- 0.01 mM methylglyoxal (MGO). After enzymatic neutralization of these two compounds, honey retained substantial activity. Using B. subtilis for activity-guided isolation of the additional antimicrobial factors, we discovered bee defensin-1 in honey. After combined neutralization of H2O2, MGO, and bee defensin-1, 20% honey had only minimal activity left, and subsequent adjustment of the pH of this honey from 3.3 to 7.0 reduced the activity to that of sugar alone. Activity against all other bacteria tested depended on sugar, H2O2, MGO, and bee defensin-1. Thus, we fully characterized the antibacterial activity of medical-grade honey.-Kwakman, P.H.S., te Velde, A.A., de Boer, L., Speijer, D., Vandenbroucke-Grauls, C.M.J.E., Zaat, S.A.J. How honey kills bacteria. FASEB J. 24, 2576-2582 (2010). www.fasebj.org
AB - With the rise in prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, honey is increasingly valued for its antibacterial activity. To characterize all bactericidal factors in a medical-grade honey, we used a novel approach of successive neutralization of individual honey bactericidal factors. All bacteria tested, including Bacillus subtilis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli, ciprofloxacin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, were killed by 10-20% (v/v) honey, whereas >40% (v/v) of a honey-equivalent sugar solution was required for similar activity. Honey accumulated up to 5.62 +/- 0.54 mM H2O2 and contained 0.25 +/- 0.01 mM methylglyoxal (MGO). After enzymatic neutralization of these two compounds, honey retained substantial activity. Using B. subtilis for activity-guided isolation of the additional antimicrobial factors, we discovered bee defensin-1 in honey. After combined neutralization of H2O2, MGO, and bee defensin-1, 20% honey had only minimal activity left, and subsequent adjustment of the pH of this honey from 3.3 to 7.0 reduced the activity to that of sugar alone. Activity against all other bacteria tested depended on sugar, H2O2, MGO, and bee defensin-1. Thus, we fully characterized the antibacterial activity of medical-grade honey.-Kwakman, P.H.S., te Velde, A.A., de Boer, L., Speijer, D., Vandenbroucke-Grauls, C.M.J.E., Zaat, S.A.J. How honey kills bacteria. FASEB J. 24, 2576-2582 (2010). www.fasebj.org
KW - Antibacterial agents
KW - Drug resistance
KW - Isolation and purification
KW - Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
KW - Peptides
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77954434573&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.09-150789
DO - https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.09-150789
M3 - Article
C2 - 20228250
SN - 0892-6638
VL - 24
SP - 2576
EP - 2582
JO - FASEB Journal
JF - FASEB Journal
IS - 7
ER -