Antibacterial effect of royal jelly for preservation of implant-related spinal infection in rat

PubMedID: 24831369Aim: Implant-related infections are still a significant problem in spinal surgical procedures. Many drugs and methods have been tried to prevent implant-related infections. Our objective in this study was to evaluate whether royal jelly, which was found to hinder the growth of MRSA, has any preventive role in the prognosis of an infection in rats in an implant-related infection model. Material and Methods: Rats were divided into 3 groups of eight rats. Group-1 consisted of rats that underwent only a spinal implant, group-2 included those rats that were inoculated bacteria together with a spinal implant and group-3 was administered royal jelly in addition to a spinal implant and infection. Result s: The amount of bacteria that grew in vertebral columns and implants was more in Group-2 than in Group-3, which meant that the number of bacteria colonies that grew was more quantitatively. This difference was found to be statistically significant in vertebral columns, but not in implants. ConclusIon: Royal jelly could not fully prevent the MRSA infection in this model, but decreased the severity of infection noticeably. More objective and promising results may be obtained if royal jelly can be used at regular intervals in a different model to be designed with respect to implant-related infections

Assessment of the antimicrobial effect of manuka honey in the implant-related spinal infections in rats [Deneysel i·mplant i·lişkili spinal enfeksiyon modelinde manuka honeyin antibakteriyel etkisinin degerlendirilmesi]

Aim: Implant-related infections in spinal surgical procedures are still an important problem despite all the precautions. Various methods and medicinal products have been applied in order to prevent implant-related infections. "Manuka honey" is a type of honey which has been approved by FDA as a medicinal product. "Manuka honey" has bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects on "methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus" which is the most frequently isolated bacteria. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether as an inexpensive and natural product, honey would prevent infection growth on rats in the implant related infection model. Method: Rats were divided into 3 groups, each of which containing 8 rats:namely, the control, infection and treatment groups. In the 1st group, there was no bacterial proliferation. Planted standard MRSA strain has been detected on rats belonging to the groups 2 and 3. On the vertebral column and implants, bacterial growth was greater in the 2nd group than the 3rd group. Also more bacterial colony growth has been detected in 2nd group as compared to 3rd group. While this difference was deemed significant in implant, the same did not apply to vertebral column. Result: Manuka honey could not completely eradicate the MRSA infection; however, it did decrease the intensity of the infection. If manuka honey, through constituting a different model, could be used in infections regularly, more objective and promising results would be revealed. Moreover, we consider that experimenting "manuka honey" on different bacteria including other Staph. aureus strains would be appropriate through constituting different models

Can royal jelly prevent epidural fibrosis development after laminectomy? An experimental study [Royal jel, laminektomi sonrasi{dotless} epidural fibrozis gelişimini önleyebilirmi? deneysel çali{dotless}şma]

Objective: One of the most important causes of the failed back surgery syndrome is the development of epidural fibrosis. In this study, the effects on the development of epidural fibrosis following experimental laminectomy of royal jelly, of which the positive effects on wound healing are known, were investigated. Material and Methods: Rats were divided into two groups, with eight rats in each group. While only laminectomy was performed in the first group, royal jelly was applied locally in the second group following the laminectomy. Vertebral columns were removed 6 weeks later. Results: Paraffin sections were examined under the light microscope by the neuropathologist and the grade of fibrosis were recorded. Each group was compared with the other group according to the level of fibrosis. The fibrosis grade in the group that royal jelly was used was found as significantly lower as compared to the control group. Conclusions: Although the positive effects of royal jelly on wound healing are known, this study of ours about the effects on the epidural fibrosis development following laminectomy is a first. Based on the results of this study, royal jelly decreases the grade of epidural fibrosis in rats following laminectomy. Since the royal jelly has no toxic effects on human body, we believe that the phase studies on humans for the medicine form of royal jelly can be carried out