Usefullness of Honey from the Islamic Point of View and Evaluation of Its Effects on Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Wounds in Balb/C Rats Invitro

Introduction: Honey has been one of the most complete and a delicious edible since ages and there has been a special consideration towards it in Islam. In the Holy Quran, there is a full chapter named “The Bee (Nahl)” and there is a verse in it as follows: “And your lord revealed to the bee saying make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in what they build, then eat of all of fruits and walk in the ways of your lord submissively. There comes forth from within it a beverage of many colors, in which there is healing for men, most surely there is a sign in this for a people who reflect.” (2) Honey has been used traditionally in medicine throughout history, for healing chronic wounds resistant to antibiotics and various kinds of burns. Because honey has low humidity, high osmotic pressure and pH, it causes stasis of growth of infectious agents and a sterile layer on sorts. A former survey showed that honey contains 20 types of sugars, 8 types of vitamins, 11 types of mineral substances,16 types of amino acids, a large of enzymes and so on. In this study we surveyed the properties of honey from the Islamic point of view and its effects on cutaneous leishmaniasis wounds in BALB/c rats in the laboratory. Methods: Sufficient natural honey from Golpayegan, a city in Isfahan province renown for its natural, good quality honey and ointment Paramo-U (made in Iran) were obtained. 30 BALB/c mice were infected with the parasiteLeishmania(L)major[MRHO/IR/75/ER] (Parasitology Dept on Faculty Medicine in Tarbiat Modares University). They were divided into three groups Honey study group, Negative and Positive groups and as soon as the Leishmania lesion was obvious, weight of the mice and size of the lesion were measured in all by using Scale and Coliss(Mettler,Switzerland)weekly until the death of the last mouse in the Negative control group. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The mean weight of the mice that received honey was not significantly different from the mean weight of the mice in the negative and positive groups. (p>0.05). But the mean wound size in the mice that received honey was significantly different from the mean wound measurement in the negative and positive controls groups (p=0.0001). Conclusion: When BALB/c mice are infected with Rural Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Leishmania(L) major [MRHO/IR/75/ER], it results in gradual loss of weight and increase in the size of the cutaneous lesion. If not treated, it develops into visceral leishmaniasis and ultimately death of the animal. Use of honey did not affect the weight significantly, but showed a significant decrease in the size of the lesions.