Inhibitory Effect of Honey against Some Pathogenic Bacterial Species Isolated from Clinical Specimens
Author(s): Hanadi Abdulqader Jasim, Basil Abdulzahra Abbas*, Hassan Alaa Farid and Mohammed Basim
Abstract
There is an urgent need for alternative antimicrobial policies which led to a re-evaluation of therapeutic use of older treatments such as the honey. Honey is a product that obtained and collected naturally from flowers by bees. This study is aimed to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial effect of natural local Iraqi honey against different pathogenic bacterial isolates, and compare this effect to the activity of Amoxicillin and Ciprofloxacin. Experimental study carried out in Basra Medical College/Department of Microbiology from Nov. 2014 - Feb. 2015 in which two types of natural honey (Cedar and Rabia'), from 18 different sources were used to implicate the in Vitro antibacterial activity against 6 pathogenic bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Proteus spp., Klebsiella spp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and the result is compared to the activity of two antibiotics. 84 % of the isolates show positive result and the average zone of inhibition was 13.5 mm for S. aureus, 9.77 mm for S. epidermidis, 9.2 mm for Proteus spp. and 7.94 mm for Klebsiella spp., MRSA and Pseudomonas aeruginosa revealed surprising susceptibility for different types of honey (14.4 mm for MRSA and 10.6 mm for Pseudomonas aeruginosa). In conclusion, the bacterial isolates from clinical specimens show obvious and attractive susceptibility against different local honey types.