부산대학교 도서관

Honey is now being renowned as an alternative treatment due to its broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and the inability of bacteria to develop resistance after exposure to it. Honey has been shown to be bactericidal against E. coli, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa as it destabilizes the bacteria's cell wall. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of a Malaysian Kelulut honey on established biofilm, prevention biofilm and on level of gene expression in S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli. Established biofilm and prevention biofilm assays were conducted on three strains of S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli using 96-well plates with five different concentrations of honey namely 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% (w/v) and the level of gene expression assay was conducted using RT-qPCR. Kelulut honey was able to reduce the biofilm mass formation up to 39%, 41% and 37% in S. auerus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli respectively. The lowest concentration of Kelulut honey found to prevent biofilm formation in S. auerus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli was 30% (w/v). Approximately fourfold reduction in the total number of viable bacterial cells of S. auerus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli was observed following treatment with 40% (w/v) Kelulut honey. The RTqPCR showed that twelve genes including argF, purC, adh, fabG, fliA, fliC oprB, oprH, yjfO (bsmA), ycfR (BhsA), lsrA and tnaA were downregulated, whilst, eight genes including scdA, pyk, menB, oprC, lasR, algU, rpoS and evgA were upregulated after exposure to Kelulut honey. This study showed the efficacy of Kelulut honey against biofilm, and that different concentrations of honey possess different degrees of potential effect on established biofilm. Also, a decreased expression of virulence genes in these bacteria will impact their pathogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]