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Manuka Honey ‘Could Help Fight Superbugs’

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A New Zealand “superfood” honey already known as an infection fighter can also kill superbugs that resist antibiotics, new research shows.

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Manuka honey, produced only from New Zealand’s manuka trees, has prevented some bacteria from growing and killed off other bacteria in lab tests, Professor Rose Cooper told the Star.

Lab experiments show it can clear bacteria found in festering wounds and contaminated hospital surfaces.

It works by breaking down the defences bacteria use against antibiotics, making it useful in treating superbug infections such as MRSA.

The results were presented at a Society for General Microbiology meeting.

Professor Rose Cooper from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff found a variety of honey from bees foraging on manuka trees in New Zealand proved effective.

Fighting resistance:-
A specially filtered version of this honey, with impurities removed, is already used in modern licensed wound-care products around the world.

Indeed, people have known for centuries about honey’s antiseptic powers.

The researchers wanted to gain a better understanding of this honey’s bacteria-fighting properties and to see if it might help tackle some of the most stubborn infections encountered in our hospitals.

Professor Cooper’s work with two common types of bacteria – streptococci and pseudomonads – revealed that manuka honey can deter the attachment of bacteria to tissue, which is an essential step in the initiation of acute infections.

Stopping attachment also blocks the formation of biofilms, which can protect bacteria from antibiotics and allow them to cause persistent infections.

The next stage of research will be to firmly identify which antibiotics work with manuka honey and which don’t.

Medical grade honey:-
The latest lab work showed that the honey can make MRSA more sensitive to antibiotics such as oxacillin – effectively reversing antibiotic resistance.

Professor Cooper said: “This indicates that existing antibiotics may be more effective against drug-resistant infections if used in combination with manuka honey.

“What we need to do now is look at more combinations with antibiotics and do some clinical work in patients.

“It could be applied topically to wounds and used in combination with antibiotics to treat resistant infections.”

But she warned people not to try the same at home with honey bought from the supermarket. “Not only is it messy, it wouldn’t be advisable. We have been using medical grade honey, not the stuff you buy in shops.”

Resources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13047332
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/975269–special-honey-can-fight-infection-kill-superbugs

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Bacteria to Clean Arsenic Spills

Scientists have stumbled on a new bacteria that can clean up arsenic spills even in previously inhospitable terrains.

The Giant Mine in Canada is in the sub-arctic region. The presence of over 230,000 tonnes of arsenic-containing dust makes it one of the most polluted places on earth, as well as one of the most inhospitable.

“Water seeps through the mine cracks carrying the arsenic with it as it drips down the walls,” said Thomas Osborne of University College London. “We discovered new types of bacteria living in biofilms on the walls of Giant Mine that consume arsenic compounds contained in the polluted water seeping through.”

Arsenic is toxic to all living cells, and in people causes fatal cancers of the lung, liver, kidney and bladder. It also causes cirrhosis and gangrene, and on a wider scale seriously damages wildlife in fragile environments.

Arsenic contamination is a global problem, with parts of India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico, Canada, Argentina and the US severely affected.

“Until now, no bacteria have ever been isolated that can thrive in cold temperatures and deal with arsenic contamination. The new bacteria we discovered function at temperatures between minus 20 degrees Celsius and four degrees C,” said Osborne.

“These bacteria also live in a community called a biofilm, which means that we can build them into a new system to clean up contaminated areas by removing the arsenic from soil or drinking water, even in the cold far north and south, or in winter.

“The other exciting possibility that this opens up is that we can isolate the enzyme from these new strains of bacteria and develop an arsenic biosensor to use in cold environments.

“This will warn when traces of arsenic are escaping from areas like mine workings, industrial chemical facilities, or even laboratories, alerting us before pollution manages to get into water courses or drinking water supplies. We could also use it to test newly drilled wells in countries like Bangladesh where water supplies are known to be contaminated.”

Many organisms, including all plants and animals, ultimately get their energy from the sun via photosynthesis. But over the last few decades scientists have discovered more and more microbes that can get their energy directly from breaking down chemical bonds.

This enables them to survive in extraordinary and dark environments such as deep inside the earth or at the bottom of the coldest, deepest oceans, where previously no life was expected to exist at all.

These findings were presented on Monday at the Society for General Microbiology‘s Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

Sources: The Times Of India

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