Effect of stingless bee honey with ciprofloxacin against Staphylococcus aureus methicillin resistant

Abstract

Honey from honey bees or stingless bees is traditionally recognized by its nutraceutical and antimicrobial effect; however, in recent years, research work has been carried out to demonstrate this, as there is little information in this regard compared to other species such as Apis mellifera. This study evaluated the effect of stingless honeys of three native species and their synergy with ciprofloxacin against two strains of Staphylococcus aureus, the control (ATCC) and methicillin resistant (MRSA). Honeys were collected from meliponaries located in Cacahoatán (14°55’13.6”N92°10’35.7”W) and include: Melipona beecheii, M. solani and Scaptotrigona mexicana. Dilutions of honey (50, 25, 12.5, 6.25, 3.125, 1.56, and 0.78% in relation v/v respectively) and ciprofloxacin (32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1, and 0.5 μg/ml) were prepared for the study. Antimicrobial activity of honeys was evaluated individually and then in combination with the antibiotic. It was found that ciprofloxacin has a minimum bactericidal concentration of 32 μL/ml whereas honey presents 50% (v/v ratio). The combination of honey and ciprofloxacin showed a synergistic effect in reducing the minimum bactericidal concentration by the combination of 5.4 mg/ml of CPX with 11% honey v/v.