The effect of Qatada (Acacia hamulosa) honey from Saudi Arabia on the steps of pilonidal sinus healing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide more light on the effect of Qatada (Acacia hamulosa) honey from Saudi Arabia as a dressing on pilonidal sinus wound healing, antibacterial activity, and cytokine levels. The results revealed that the pH of 3.56 of tested honey, where glucose was 378 mmol/l also the specific gravity was 1.435, while contents of total phenolic and flavonoid and DPPH activity (32.15 mg GAE/100 g honey), (54.27 mg RE/100 g honey) and (127.83 mg/ml) respectively. The mean duration of pilonidal sinus wounds to be ready for surgical closure was 43.5 days in the control (standard dressing) group where the honey dressing group was 28.5 days. Less pain, edema, and foul-smelling discharge were expressed in the honey group if compared with the standard dressing group. The total bacterial count was 9 × 109 at the begging of the experiment then it reduced after the application of standard dressing traditional therapy to (9 ×105) and honey treatment group (9 ×102) after 21 days post-treatment. Significant reduction (p<0.05) was observed in serum TNFα(-52), IL6 - 46), and IL-17 (-60) relatively to pre-treatment values. Based on our findings, we may conclude that Qatada honey bioactivities aided wound healing by increasing tissue growth while decreasing overall bacterial count and inflammation.