Honey Based Gel a Good Alternative to Traditional Burn Wound Treatment

The Effect of a Honey Based Gel and Silver Sulphadiazine on Bacterial Infections of in vitro Burn Wounds

Burns, 2012 Oct 1, pii: S0305-4179(12)00297-5

Bacterial contamination remains a constant threat in burn wound care. Topical treatments to combat contaminations have good bactericidal effects but can have detrimental effects for the healing process. Treatments with for example silver can increase healing times.

Honey based products can be a good alternative as it is antibacterial and patient-friendly. We evaluated the bactericidal and cytotoxic effects of a honey based gel and silver sulphadiazine in a human burn wound model with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 

After adding 10(5)colony forming units of P. aeruginosa, topical treatments were applied on the burn wound models. After 2, 12, 24, 28 and 70h, bacteria were dislodged and counted by plating dilutions. Cytotoxic effects were evaluated histologically in samples of burn wound models treated topically for 3weeks, without bacteria. l-Mesitran Soft significantly reduced the bacterial load (5-log reduction) up to 24h but did not completely eliminate bacteria from the burn wounds. After Flammazine(®) treatment, only a few colony forming units were observed at all time points. In contrast, re-epithelialization was significantly reduced after application of Flammazine(®) compared to l-Mesitran Soft or control.

This in vitro model of burn wound infection can be used to evaluate topical treatments. l-Mesitran Soft is a good alternative.