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The rise of antibiotic resistance poses a significant threat to the global control of infectious diseases, which has led researchers around the world to investigate the efficacy of both natural and synthetic antibiotics. Honey is known to be antibacterial; however, little is known about whether storage time affects its potency. A new study published in Scientific Reports discusses the changes in morphology and antibacterial activity in four honey varieties from Hungary.
Study: Antibacterial activity of Hungarian varietal honeys against respiratory pathogens as a function of storage time . Image Credit: wasanajai / Shutterstock.com Respiratory infections are often caused by resident bacterial flora, particularly Streptococcus and Hemophilus, that become pathogenic when the host immune system is weakened.
The formation of biofilms is a common phenomenon with 80% of bacterial infections, which causes resistance to host immune responses and antibiotics, as well as tolerance to adverse environmental conditions. The biofilm implies both a specific metabolic profile in the component cells and a structure that resists permeability to drugs. Extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) are key to the structure of biofilms, as they form a matrix within which bacteria are embedded.
The matrix channels allow the bacteria to communicate with each other through metabolite transfer and exchange resistance genes with each other. During infection, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, for example , covers the respi.
