Honey health benefits and uses in medicine

The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other free radicals during metabolism is an essential and normal process that ideally is compensated through the antioxidant system. However, due to many environmental, lifestyle, and pathological situations, free radicals and oxidants can be produced in excess, resulting in oxidative damage of biomolecules (e.g., lipids, proteins, and DNA). This plays a major role in the development of chronic and degenerative illness such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, aging, cataract, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases (Pham-Huy et al. 2008; Willcox et al. 2004). The human body has several mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress by producing antioxidants, which are either naturally synthetized in situ, or externally supplied through foods, and/or supplements (Pham-Huy et al. 2008).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Antimicrobial resistance in Africa: a systematic review

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is widely acknowledged as a global problem, yet in many parts of the world its magnitude is still not well understood. This review, using a public health focused approach, aimed to understand and describe the current status of AMR in Africa in relation to common causes of infections and drugs recommended in WHO treatment guidelines. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE and other relevant databases were searched for recent articles (2013–2016) in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Article retrieval and screening were done using a structured search string and strict inclusion/exclusion criteria. Median and interquartile ranges of percent resistance were calculated for each antibiotic-bacterium combination. Results: AMR data was not available for 42.6% of the countries in the African continent. A total of 144 articles were included in the final analysis. 13 Gram negative and 5 Gram positive bacteria were tested against 37 different antibiotics. Penicillin resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae was reported in 14/144studies (median resistance (MR): 26.7%). Further 18/53 (34.0%) of Haemophilus influenza isolates were resistant to amoxicillin. MR of Escherichia coli to amoxicillin, trimethoprim and gentamicin was 88.1%, 80.7% and 29.8% respectively. Ciprofloxacin resistance in Salmonella Typhi was rare. No documented ceftriaxone resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae was reported, while the MR for quinolone was 37.5%. Carbapenem resistance was common in Acinetobacter spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa but uncommon in Enterobacteriaceae. Conclusion: Our review highlights three important findings. First, recent AMR data is not available for more than 40% of the countries. Second, the level of resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics was significant. Third, the quality of microbiological data is of serious concern. Our findings underline that to conserve our current arsenal of antibiotics it is imperative to address the gaps in AMR diagnostic standardization and reporting and use available information to optimize treatment guidelines.</p

Novel nano-composite hydrogels with honey effective against multi-resistant clinical strains of Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Novel alginate hydrogels with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and honey components were produced with the aim to target multidrug-resistant bacterial strains causing nosocomial wound infections. AgNP synthesis was optimized in highly concentrated honey solutions so that a 5-month stable, colloid solution with 50% of honey and similar to 8 nm AgNPs at neutral pH was obtained. The colloid solution was further used to produce nano-composite Ag/alginate hydrogels in different forms (microbeads, microfibers and discs) that retained all AgNPs and high fractions of honey components (40-60%) as determined by the phenol-sulfuric acid and Folin-Ciocalteu methods. The hydrogels were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy while the antibacterial activity was investigated against a broad spectrum of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including 13 multi-resistant clinical strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, one clinical strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and one clinical strain of Staphylococcus aureus. At the total released silver concentration of similar to 9 mu g/ml, the hydrogels exhibited strong bactericidal activity against standard and most of the investigated multi-resistant hospital strains with the exemption of 3 clinical strains of A. baumannii in which antibacterial effects were absent. These results reveal the need for further in-depth studies of bacterial resistance mechanisms and, in the same time, potentials of the novel Ag/alginate hydrogels with honey components to combat wound infections and enhance healing as non-sticky, antibacterial, and bioactive dressings