[The potential use of honey in ophthalmology]. / Moznosti vyuzitia vcelieho medu v oftalmológii.

Honey is considered to be a natural product with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Its successful application in the treatment of chronic wounds and burns has promoted its further clinical use in other clinical departments, including ophthalmology. One of the major advantages of honey is its multi-factorial antibacterial action and the fact that there is no risk of developing bacterial resistance to it. In this work we discuss the current knowledge and new perspectives for honey therapy in treatment of eye diseases such as dry eye disease, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts and bullous keratopathy. Key words: honey, eye diseases, natural product, treatment.

[Apitherapy--the role of honey in the chronic wound healing process]. / Apiterapia--uloha medu v procese hojenie chronických rán.

With increasing frequency, modern medicine directs attention to natural products and biological therapy methods and their use in clinical practice. Bee honey as well as other bee products (propolis, royal jelly and venom) have already found use in medicine not only as immune system stimulants but also as chronic wound healing promoters. The major arguments for implementing apitherapy are the low cost in comparison with conventional therapies and the fact that honey has proved effective against resistant hospital pathogens. Besides antimicrobial characteristics associated with no antimicrobial resistance risk, honey has anti-inflammatory effects. Controlled clinical trials have shown honey to be effective in chronic wound healing and gave rise to medihoney. Nevertheless, further study is needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of honey in clinical practice.

In vitro effect of subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics on biofilm formation by clinical strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolated in Slovakia.

AIMS: In this study, we examined the biofilm formation of 75 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (Salm. Typhimurium) human clinical isolates and the effect of subinhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) of gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and cefotaxime on biofilm formation and exopolysaccharides (EPS) production. METHODS AND RESULTS: Quantification of biofilm formation and EPS production were carried out using a modified microtitre plate assay and spectrophotometric method, respectively. The results indicate that 38 isolates (50.7%), which are predominantly of DT104 phage type, presented as the strong biofilm producers in vitro on plastic surface. When strains with the highest biofilm-forming capacity were grown in the presence of sub-MICs of gentamicin and ciprofloxacin, the inhibition of biofilm formation and EPS production was observed. In contrast, cefotaxime at 1/2 MIC (0.039 microg ml(-1)) was able to significantly induce the production of biofilm as well as EPS in three isolates with nontypable and DT104 phage type, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results clearly indicate that all the three antibiotics tested are able to interfere with biofilm formation and EPS production by Salm. Typhimurium isolates. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The current study demonstrated that cefotaxime at sub-MIC can be beneficial for the behaviour of pathogen Salm. Typhimurium in vitro.