Evaluation of the Sensitivity of Staphylococcus aurous Isolated from Nasal Swabs to Natural Honey

Abstract

Introduction: Bacterial resistance to antibacterial agents is a very serious threat to public health. Where some antibacterial agents prove ineffective, the antibacterial properties of honey have been shown to be highly efficacious against several human bacterial pathogens. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the nursing staff of a hospital to natural honey.


Methods: In this study, 35 strains of methicillin-resistant S. aurous samples were selected from hospital staff's nasal swabs. Two strains were vancomycin-resistant. The serial dilution tube test methodwas used to determine minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) .The susceptibility of each strain of staph bacteria to natural honey without wax was determined and compared with that of a glucose solution with the same density.


Results: In all strains, except for the two strains resistant to vancomycin, MIC level was < 8.3% (v/v). The MIC of glucose as dense as honey was four times higher. The two vancomycin-resistant strains were completely resistant to natural honey.


Conclusions: This study has therefore demonstrated that inhibiting bacterial growth is not merely done by purely natural honey not because of osmolality, but vancomycin-resistant bacteria are not sensitive to natural honey.


Keywords: sensitivity, Staphylococcus aurous, natural honey, minimum inhibitory concentration

References
1. Lusby, P. E., Coombes, A. L., and Wilkinson, J. M. (2005). Bactericidal activity of different honeys against pathogenic bacteria. Archives of Medical Research, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 464–467.

2. Estevinho, L., Pereira, A. P., Moreira, L., et al. (2008) Antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of phenolic compounds extracts of Northeast Portugal honey. Food and Chemical Toxicology, vol. 46, no. 12, pp. 3774–3779.

3. Noori, A., Al Ghamdi, A., Ansari, M. J., et al. (2013). Differences in composition of honey samples and their impact on the antimicrobial activities against drug multiresistant bacteria and pathogenic fungi. Archives of Medical Research, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 307–316.

4. Yaghoobi, R. and Kazerouni, A. (2013). Evidence for clinical use of honey in wound healing as an anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory anti-oxidant and anti-viral agent: a review. Jundishapur Journal of Natural Pharmaceutical Products, vol. 8, no. 3, p. 100.

5. Oduwole, O., Udoh, E. E., Oyo-Ita, A., et al. (2018). Honey for acute cough in children. Cochrane Database System Review, vol. 4, no. 3, CD007094.

6. Jantakee, K. and Tragoolpua, Y. (2015). Activities of different types of Thai honey on pathogenic bacteria causing skin diseases, tyrosinase enzyme and generating free radicals. Biological Research, vol. 48, no. 1, p. 4.

7. McLoone, P., Warnock, M., and Fyfe, L. (2016). Honey: a realistic antimicrobial for disorders of the skin. Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 161–167.

8. Mandal, M. D. and Mandal, S. (2011). Honey: its medicinal property and antibacterial activity. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 154–160.

9. Iqbal, M. N., Anjum, A. A., Ali, M. A., et al. (2015). Assessment of microbial load of un-pasteurized fruit juices and in vitro antibacterial potential of honey against bacterial isolates. The Open Microbiology Journal, vol. 9, pp. 26–32.

10. Moussa, A., Noureddine, D., Abdelmelek, M., et al. (2012). Antibacterial activity of various honey types of Algeria against pathogenic Gram–negative bacilli: Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 211–214.

11. Cooper, R., Halas, E., and Molan, P. (2002). The efficacy of honey in inhibiting strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from infected burns. The Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 366–370.

12. Majtan, J. (2014). Honey: an immunomodulator in wound healing. Wound Repair and Regeneration, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 187–192.

13. Nassar, H. M., Li, M., Gregory, R. L. (2012). Effect of honey on Streptococcus mutans growth and biofilm formation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 78, no. 2, pp. 536–540.

15. Omoya, F. and Akharaiyi, F. (2011). Mixture of honey and ginger extract for antibacterial assessment on some clinical isolates. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Research, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 39–47.

16. Wasihun, A. G. and Kasa, B. G. (2016). Evaluation of antibacterial activity of honey against multidrug resistant bacteria in Ayder Referral and Teaching Hospital, Northern Ethiopia. SpringerPlus, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 842.

17. Omara, S. T. (2017). MIC and MBC of honey and gold nanoparticles against methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant (VRSA) coagulase-positive S. aureus isolated from contagious bovine clinical mastitis. Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 219–230.

18. Aamer, A., Abdul-Hafeez, M., and Sayed, S. (2014). Minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC) of honey and bee propolis against multi-drug resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus sp. isolated from bovine clinical mastitis. Alternative & Integrative Medicine, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 1–9.

19. Henriques, A., Jenkins, R., Burton, N., et al. (2010). The intracellular effects of manuka honey on Staphylococcus aureus. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, vol. 29, no. 1, p. 45.

20. Cooper, R., Molan, P., and Harding, K. (2002). The sensitivity to honey of Gram‐positive cocci of clinical significance isolated from wounds. Journal of Applied Microbiology, vol. 93, no. 5, pp. 857–863.

21. Molan, P. and Brett, M., ed. (1998). Honey has potential as a dressing for wounds infected with MRSA. The Second Australian Wound Management Association Conference Brisbane, Australia.

22. Mullai, V. and Menon, T. (2007). Bactericidal activity of different types of honey against clinical and environmental isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 439–442.

23. Al-Naama, R. T. (2009). Evaluation of in-vitro inhibitory effect of honey on some microbial isolate. African Journal of Bacteriology Research, vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 64–67.

24. Noori, A., Al-Ghamdi, A., Ansari, M. J., et al. (2012). Synergistic effects of honey and propolis toward drug multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans isolates in single and polymicrobial cultures. International Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 9, no. 9, p. 793.