Antibacterial Activity of Honey against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: A Laboratory-Based Experimental Study

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial drug resistance is one of the serious issues this world is facing nowadays, and increased cost of searching for effective antimicrobial agents and the decreased rate of new drug discovery have made the situation increasingly worrisome. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine in vitro antibacterial activity of honey against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from wound infection. METHODS: An experimental study was conducted from May to November 2017. Methicillin resistance was detected using cefoxitin (30 μg) and oxacillin (1 μg) antibiotic discs. Different concentrations of honey (25–100% v/v) were tested against each type of clinical isolates obtained from wound infection. A preliminary sensitivity test was done to all types of honey by using disk diffusion while minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were determined for the most potent honey by the broth dilution technique. All statistical analysis was performed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. RESULTS: In this study, 36 bacterial isolates were recovered from 50 specimens, showing an isolation rate of 72%. The predominant bacteria isolated from the infected wounds were Staphylococcus aureus (15, 41.7%). Among identified Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin resistance accounts for 10 isolates (27.8%). All isolates showed a high frequency of resistance to tetracycline. Four collected honey varieties exhibited antibacterial activity, while the strongest inhibitory activity was demonstrated by honey-2 at 75% v/v. The mean MIC and MBC of honey-2 ranged from 9.38 to 37.5% v/v. CONCLUSIONS: Tested honey has both a bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity. Among the tested honey, “honey-2” had high antibacterial potency than others.