Malaysian Gelam Honey Heals Wounds

Monofloral honeys continue to show effectiveness in healing wounds. No matter where they are located, honey bees make good medicine...

THE EFFICACY OF GELAM HONEY DRESSING TOWARDS EXCISIONAL WOUND HEALING

E-CAM, 2012, May 18

Abstract:

Honey is one of the oldest substances used in wound management. Efficacy of Gelam honey in wound healing was evaluated in this paper.

Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups of 24 rats each (untreated group, saline group, Intrasite Gel group, and Gelam honey group) with 2 cm by 2 cm full thickness, excisional wound created on neck area. Wounds were dressed topically according to groups. Rats were sacrificed on days 1, 5, 10, and 15 of treatments. Wounds were then processed for macroscopic and histological observations.

Gelam-honey-dressed wounds healed earlier (day 13) than untreated and saline treated groups, as did wounds treated with Intrasite Gel. Honey-treated wounds exhibited less scab and only thin scar formations. Histological features demonstrated positive effects of Gelam honey on the wounds.

This paper showed that Gelam honey dressing on excisional wound accelerated the process of wound healing.

Intro:

Wound healing is a complex biological cascade of cellular and biochemical events comprised of three phases: inflammation, proliferation, and maturation... A rapid increase of interest in the use of honey as wound dressing among researchers and modern practitioners includes case studies and clinical trials reporting the effectiveness of honey in the treatment of different types of wounds, with some showing effectiveness against bacterial strains resistant to synthetic antibiotics...

Day 10: (i) none (ii) saline (iii) gel (iv) honey

Honey Sample:

Gelam honey is a local monofloral honey produced by Apis mellifera bees from the flora source of Gelam (Melaleuca spp.) tree... The honey was obtained by the normal procedure of centrifuging the cut comb in a stainless steel container and filtered once by using a fine muslin cloth. The honey used was sterilized by gamma-irradiation (25 kGy) and kept at laboratory temperature (20°C), away from direct sunlight in aluminum foil covered glass bottle...