Effect of Honey on Healing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infected Burn Wounds in Rat

To determine the effect of honey on healing of burn wounds infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 57 male Sprague-Dawley 180-220 g rats were randomly divided into 3 equal groups (A-C). Group A (control) did not receive any treatment, group B was treated with honey and group C with silver sulfadiazine. After 24 h of burn production, 10(8) colony forming units (CFU) of toxigenic strains of P. aeruginosa (PA 103) were inoculated subcutaneously into the burnt area. Samples were obtained from the infected areas for the presence of P. aeruginosa on the 2(nd), 7(th), 14(th) and 21(st) d post burns. After 1, 2 and 3 weeks, the animals were sacrificed and burn areas were examined histologically. Bacterial count on the d 2 was 10(5) P. aeruginosa. On d 7, 14 and 21, there was a significant decrease in the number of bacteria in groups B and C. Re-epithelization was significantly more in honey group on d 14 in comparison to silver sulfadiazine and the control. Based on this experiment, application of honey for treatment of burn site even infected with P. aeruoginosa could be safe. However, to clinically use this natural product more supportive trials are needed.