Honey, Silver Among Novel Wound Care Treatments

But recently there has been renewed interest in honey and new products commercializing its medicinal properties. Honey's positive effects on the healing process are myriad, from reducing inflammation, swelling, and pain, to promoting the shedding of necrotic tissue and faster healing with minimal scarring. Honey is also an excellent antibacterial agent, and unlike other antiseptics, it is not harmful to tissues. Honey's powerful therapeutic and antibacterial properties are due to the hydrogen peroxide it generates that stimulates the growth of new cells and blood vessels; antioxidants it releases that prevent the formation of free radicals, which lead to inflammation; and the vitamins, amino acids, and minerals that are present in honey that are vital to new tissue growth, since damage to the underlying circulation limits nutrients from reaching the wound.

Antimicrobial silver is also used extensively to combat organisms in wounds and burns. When mobilized from its reservoir in aqueous fluids, silver provides an antimicrobial action; the positively charged ionic form is highly toxic for microorganisms but has relatively low toxicity for human tissue cells. Silver works in a number of ways to disrupt critical functions in a microorganism. For example, it has a high affinity for negatively charged side groups on biological molecules. These include groups such as sulfhydryl, carboxyl, phosphate, and other charged groups distributed throughout microbial cells. This binding reaction alters the molecular structure of the macromolecule, rendering it worthless to the cell. Silver simultaneously attacks multiple sites within the cell to inactivate critical physiological functions such as cell-wall synthesis, membrane transport, nucleic acid (such as RNA and DNA) synthesis and translation, protein folding and function, and electron transport, which are important in generating energy for the cell. Because silver affects so many different functions of the microbial cell, it is nonselective, resulting in antimicrobial activity against a broad spectrum of medically relevant microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. Silver is also more efficient than traditional antibiotics because it is extremely active in small quantities. For certain bacteria, as little as one part per billion of silver may be effective in preventing cell growth.

"With clinical trials providing the evidence and rational explanations for its therapeutic efficacy, honey is finding acceptance in the mainstream medical field,” said Mary Anne Crandall, a research analyst at Kalorama Information (New York, NY, USA). "Companies such as MoInlycke Healthcare, Comvita, and Derma Sciences are successfully commercializing honey-based wound care dressings and antibacterial gels.”


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