Mānuka Honey Could Treat Potentially Lethal, Drug Resistant Lung Infections

Humans have used honey for thousands of years.

One of the most aggressive and drug resistant lung infections can be treated with mnuka honey.

Victoria Nolan, a microbiologist at Aston University, says the use of amikacin and mnuka honey shows great promise as an improved therapy for lung infections.

Patients with pre-existing lung conditions are more likely to be vulnerabl e to the bacterium that is related to Tuberculosis.

It's difficult to treat thisbacteria in the lungs because there are many strains that are resistant to different drugs. There are severe side effects of the antibiotic drugs that are included in the package.

Even if patients can endure nausea and vomiting and escape potential hearing loss, liver damage, and a reduction of their white blood cells and the blood components involved in clotting, to adhere to the treatment, successful treatment rates are still only up to 50%.

Infections of the skin and soft tissue can be caused by this nasty bacterium.

Mnuka honey is created by bees from the fruit of a native tree.

The sugars in the mnuka flowers are converted to honey over time.

MGO is not present in other honeys.

Nolan and his colleagues tested different levels of honey against the bacteria. The strains of M. abscessus used were all resistant to antibiotics.

The whole honey proved to be more effective than isolated MGO in destroying M. abscessus.

These components should be further investigated.

Nolan and the team tested nebulizing mnuka honey to see if it could be used with one of the antibiotics.

The aid of honey lowered the amount of amikacin needed for treatment from 16 to 2. The terrible side effects of the drug would be reduced.

"We have found a way to potentially kill off these bacteria with eight times less drug than before, by combining a totally natural ingredient such as mnuka honey with amikacin, one of the most important yet toxic drugs."

It has the potential to greatly improve the quality of life for many patients, including those with cystic fibrosis.

The team hopes their discovery will lead to trials. Both mnuka and non-mnuka honeys have been developed into medical grade substances for use with things like wound dressing or nebulized for asthma treatments in rabbits, so they have a good safety track record.

More than 100,000 people worldwide are vulnerable to this pathogen due to cystic fibrosis and hundreds of thousands more are susceptible to it.

The research was published in a scientific journal.