Manuka Honey May Be Key to Controlling MRSA Infections

A special kind of honey collected from bees may be the key to killing a potentially deadly form of drug-resistant bacterial infection, new research finds.

Researchers at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff found that manuka honey effectively destroyed some bacterial proteins in Meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a strain of staph infection that is highly resistant to most traditional antibiotics.

Manuka honey has long had healing and anti-bacterial properties and is used to treat wounds, burns, stomach ulcers, sore throats, canker sores, fungus such as Athlete’s foot, and some types of acne. It is a form of mono-floral honey produced by bees that gather nectar from flowers on the Manuka bush (also called Leptospermum scoparium), a plant that is indigenous to New Zealand.

Medical researchers now say the honey can play a role in controlling MRSA infections.

MRSA results in about 90,000 serious infections and causes about 18,000 deaths in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Once primarily found in hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare settings, MRSA is now spreading faster and being found in schools, locker rooms, military barracks, jails, and other locations where many people either live or congregate together in close quarters.

The research team took MRSA cells treated with manuka honey and compared the cells not treated with the honey. They found that when the proteins in the bacteria were isolated and viewed individually, there were fewer of the proteins in the MRSA cells treated with manuka honey. One protein that plays a main role in fatty acid biosynthesis, called Fabl, appeared to be completely destroyed by the manuka honey treatments, the researchers said.

The findings from the study are being presented in Edinburgh at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at Heriot-Watt University, according to a UPI news report.

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