Investigating the Anti-inflammatory Activity of Honey
type: CreativeWork
description: Honey has various bioactivities with health-benefiting properties. It has been registered for use in wound dressings but before it can be registered with regulatory authorities for sale with claims for therapeutic actions the components responsible for these bioactivities must be identified to allow standardisation. This thesis focuses on the anti-inflammatory activity of honey. Emphasis was put on identifying the mode of action of the anti-inflammatory component, creating an in vitro assay to measure the anti-inflammatory activity of individual honeys and attempting to identify and characterise the component(s) responsible for the activity. A cell line (THP-1) was selected for this study based on its macrophage phenotype upon activation and its role as an inflammatory regulator. Initially this cell line was characterised to better understand the treatments that activate its phagocytosis ability, mobility, phenotype and gene expression profile. The cell line was then monitored for the change in expression of its pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors in response to common cell-activating treatments (LPS, PMA and Vit-D3) and Manuka honey. It was found that Manuka honey increased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10, IL-1ra and the growth factors PDGF and TGF-β. This indicated that Manuka honey may allow inflammation to proceed at a modulated level, allowing healing to occur. The cell line THP-1 was further investigated as a model of a phagocyte when activated. A phagocytosis assay using latex particles was utilised to study the effect of honey on the ability of cells to phagocytose. It was found that honey reduced phagocytosis, and that Manuka honey had a superior ability to other honey types to do this. The activity was isolated to the high molecular weight compounds in honey. As phagocytosis produces large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ROS are pro-inflammatory, the ROS p…
abstract: Honey has various bioactivities with health-benefiting properties. It has been registered for use in wound dressings but before it can be registered with regulatory authorities for sale with claims for therapeutic actions the components responsible for these bioactivities must be identified to allow standardisation. This thesis focuses on the anti-inflammatory activity of honey. Emphasis was put on identifying the mode of action of the anti-inflammatory component, creating an in vitro assay to measure the anti-inflammatory activity of individual honeys and attempting to identify and characterise the component(s) responsible for the activity. A cell line (THP-1) was selected for this study based on its macrophage phenotype upon activation and its role as an inflammatory regulator. Initially this cell line was characterised to better understand the treatments that activate its phagocytosis ability, mobility, phenotype and gene expression profile. The cell line was then monitored for the change in expression of its pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors in response to common cell-activating treatments (LPS, PMA and Vit-D3) and Manuka honey. It was found that Manuka honey increased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10, IL-1ra and the growth factors PDGF and TGF-β. This indicated that Manuka honey may allow inflammation to proceed at a modulated level, allowing healing to occur. The cell line THP-1 was further investigated as a model of a phagocyte when activated. A phagocytosis assay using latex particles was utilised to study the effect of honey on the ability of cells to phagocytose. It was found that honey reduced phagocytosis, and that Manuka honey had a superior ability to other honey types to do this. The activity was isolated to the high molecular weight compounds in honey. As phagocytosis produces large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ROS are pro-inflammatory, the ROS p…
author: Bean, Amanda
keywords: honey, antiinflammatory
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/18fb13c0-76e9-4eb4-871c-6c944e95cc0c/download
date published: 2012
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:44Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Waikato