Lactic Acid Bacterial Symbionts in Honeybees - An Unknown
Key to Honey's Antimicrobial and Therapeutic Activities
Int Wound J. 2014 Sep 8. doi: 10.1111/iwj.12345
Could honeybees' most valuable contribution to mankind
besides pollination services be alternative tools against infections? Today,
due to the emerging antibiotic-resistant pathogens, we are facing a new era of
searching for alternative tools against infections. Natural products such as
honey have been applied against human's infections for millennia without
sufficient scientific evidence. A unique lactic acid bacterial (LAB) microbiota
was discovered by us, which is in symbiosis with honeybees and present in large
amounts in fresh honey across the world. This work investigates if the LAB
symbionts are the source to the unknown factors contributing to honey's
properties. Hence, we tested the LAB against severe wound pathogens such as
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) among others.
We demonstrate a strong
antimicrobial activity from each symbiont and a synergistic effect, which
counteracted all the tested pathogens. The mechanisms of action are partly
shown by elucidating the production of active compounds such as proteins, fatty
acids, anaesthetics, organic acids, volatiles and hydrogen peroxide. We show
that the symbionts produce a myriad of active compounds that remain in variable
amounts in mature honey. Further studies are now required to investigate if
these symbionts have a potential in clinical applications as alternative tools
against topical human and animal infections.
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