Yorkshire lab joins anti-MRSA fight

17/06/2010

A North Yorkshire laboratory has joined the fight against MRSA by helping to discover the benefits that honey bees provide against the deadly hospital bug.

Natures Laboratory aims to get a better scientific understanding of natural medicines and conducts research on beeglue, or proplis, which is found to halt the bacteria's growth.

Bees make propolis out of material from trees and plants in the Pacific region. In this study, researchers isolated two compounds - Propolin C and Propolin D - during tests on 15 strains of MRSA obtained from the NHS.

The scientists discovered that both stopped the bug from growing, but said they needed more tests to find out whether the extracts can kill the bacteria.

This discovery could aid the development of a new anti-MRSA medicine, they added.

Natures Laboratory aided researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow in conducting the study, the results of which were published in the Phytotherapy Research journal.

Their findings were released to mark Universities Week, which aims to raise public awareness of the varied role of UK universities.

Study leader Veronique Seidel, natural products chemistry professor at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, said: " We investigated propolis, as part of a programme aimed at discovering new antibiotics from natural sources, because bees use it as an antiseptic glue to seal gaps between honeycombs and preserve their hives from microbial contamination.

"Beeglue is also a natural remedy widely used in folk medicine for a variety of ailments but little has been known until now about its capacity to target MRSA."

Copyright © Press Association 2010