



The research was performed by scientists from the Netherlands, with the results of their study published in July 2010 issue of The FASEB Journal.Its title is ' How honey kills bacteria ' (doi: 10.1096/fj.09-150789).They state within the abstract of their paper: 'With the rise in prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, honey is increasingly valued for its antibacterial activity. To characterize all bactericidal factors in a medical-grade honey, we used a novel approach of successive neutralization of individual honey bactericidal factors.'The researchers concluded, 'Thus, we fully characterized the antibacterial activity of medical-grade honey.'Specifically, the researchers found that bees make a type of protein called defensin-1 that in the future could be used to treat bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and, thus, cause infections that are difficult to control.The June 30, 2010 Science Daily article ' Honey as an Antibiotic: Scientists Identify a Secret Ingredient in Honey That Kills Bacteria ' quotes Dr. Sebastian A.J. Zaat, from the Department of Medical Microbiology at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.Page two reveals what Dr. Zaat said in the Science Daily article





Dr. Zaat, one of the researchers involved in the study, stated, 'We have completely elucidated the molecular basis of the antibacterial activity of a single medical-grade honey, which contributes to the applicability of honey in medicine.'He adds, "Honey or isolated honey-derived components might be of great value for prevention and treatment of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria."Please read the Science Daily article , mentioned on page one, in more detail to learn more about this discovery with honey and infections.The authors of the study are: Paulus H. S. Kwakman, Anje A. te Velde, Leonie de Boer, Dave Speijer, Christina M. J. E. Vandenbroucke-Grauls, and Sebastian A. J. Zaat.