Efficacy of Various Local Honey For The Treatment Of Burn Wounds

Since time immemorial honey has been known to treat myriad of wounds and ailments. Recently, honey has been revived as an effective treatment for wounds and the interests that spark in approachng alternative treatments stem partly from the emergence of antibiotic-resistance pathogens. In addition burn care duration of hospita is an expensive proposition which requires significant 1 stay as well as expensive medications. Since honey is produced from many sources of nectar, the chemical and physical activities vary greatly with origin of the nectar as well as environmental conditions. Thus, the present study was undertaken to assess the potential of various Malaysian honeys in treating burn wound. The efficacy of topical application of Malaysian honeys on burn wound healing in Sprague-Dawley rats was investigated on the basis of biophysical and histological changes. A total of 210 Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing between 200 - 300 g were used in this study. Deep partial skin thickness burn wound was inflicted on the dorsal part of the body. Imported Manuka honey as well as four selected local honeys collected from different plantations namely nenas, gelam, durian and kelapa were applied twice daily in a quantity of 0.5 ml for each application. Control animals received no treatment while silver sulphadiazine (SSD) cream served as a standard burn wound treatment. The rats were inspected daily and the general appearance as well as the rate of wound contraction was recorded at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days post burned. Six rats from each experimental group were euthanized at each time interval and the skin samples taken were evaluated histologically and subjected to tensile strength test. Tissue sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson's trichrome staining, while tensile strength testing was done using an InstronTM tensiometer. The results obtained from this study showed that Manuka honey and Gelam honey significantly stimulated the rate of burn wound healing as demonstrated by increased rate of wound contraction and from gross observations. Microscopic evaluation demonstrated that there was a significant acceleration of the dermal repair in wound healing treated with Manuka and Gelam honeys. Early attenuation of inflammatory reaction and early reparative activities were observed in wounds treated with the two types of honeys. Differential cells count showed a significant decrease in the number of inflammatory cells in the Manuka honey and Gelam honey treated wounds as early as 3 days post injury. In addition, epithelial regeneration appeared to be quite advanced whereby re-epithelialization was observed as early as 7 days after burn treatment as compared to other experimental groups. Histological findings of this study also showed enhanced proliferation of fibroblasts and collagen synthesis in wounds treated with Manuka honey and Gelam honey. In addition, tensile strength of the wounds treated with these honeys was also enhanced during the course of study. Thus, results obtained from the present study suggested that topical application of Manuka and Gelam honey may have favourable influence on the various phases of burn wound healing hence accelerating the healing process.

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