对于一直在寻找新抗体的科学家来说，这是一个好消息：据2010年7月份FASEB Journal杂志上的一项最新研究，研究人员首次阐释了蜂蜜杀灭细菌的机制。蜜蜂会产生一种叫defensin-1的蛋白，并将其加入到蜂蜜中，结果表明，该蛋白或能在未来用于治疗烧伤，皮肤感染，甚至可以开发新药来对抗耐生素类的细菌感染。

"我们已经完全破解了单一医用蜂蜜抗菌活性的分子基础，这将促进蜂蜜在医学中的应用。"荷兰阿姆斯特丹大学医学中心的Sebastian A.J. Zaat博士表示，蜂蜜或其中的单独成分可能对治疗和预防由耐抗生素细菌导致的感染具有很好的作用。

这项研究中，Zaat和他的同事们检测了医用蜂蜜对抗耐抗生素细菌所引起的疾病的抗菌活性。研究人员开发了一种方法能够选择性地中和蜂蜜中一些已知的抗菌因素，然后分别确定出其抗菌作用。最终，他们分离得到了defensin-1蛋白，这种蛋白是蜜蜂免疫系统的组成部分，能够被蜜蜂加入到了蜂蜜中。分析结果表明，蜂蜜主要的抗菌活性就来源于该蛋白。这些结果同样揭示了蜜蜂内部的免疫机制，这或能帮助养蜂人培育一种更为健康的蜜蜂品种。

"很早以前我们就知道，在我们受到一些细菌感染的时候蜂蜜可以帮助减轻痛苦，但是还不清楚其具体的机制。"FASEB Journal的主编Gerald Weissmann表示，"现在我们可以从蜂蜜中提取这种强有力的抗菌成分，并开发出更为有效的方法治疗或抑制细菌感染。

原文出处：

The FASEB Journal. doi: 10.1096/fj.09-150789.

How honey kills bacteria
Paulus H. S. Kwakman*, Anje A. te Velde, Leonie de Boer*, Dave Speijer, Christina M. J. E. Vandenbroucke-Grauls*, and Sebastian A. J. Zaat*,1

* Department of Medical Microbiology, Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam,
 Laboratory of Experimental Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and
 Department of Medical Biochemistry, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam; and
 Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

With the rise in prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, honey is increasingly valued for its antibacterial activity. To characterize all bactericidal factors in a medical-grade honey, we used a novel approach of successive neutralization of individual honey bactericidal factors. All bacteria tested, including Bacillus subtilis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli, ciprofloxacin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, were killed by 10–20% (v/v) honey, whereas 40% (v/v) of a honey-equivalent sugar solution was required for similar activity. Honey accumulated up to 5.62 ± 0.54 mM H2O2 and contained 0.25 ± 0.01 mM methylglyoxal (MGO). After enzymatic neutralization of these two compounds, honey retained substantial activity. Using B. subtilis for activity-guided isolation of the additional antimicrobial factors, we discovered bee defensin-1 in honey. After combined neutralization of H2O2, MGO, and bee defensin-1, 20% honey had only minimal activity left, and subsequent adjustment of the pH of this honey from 3.3 to 7.0 reduced the activity to that of sugar alone. Activity against all other bacteria tested depended on sugar, H2O2, MGO, and bee defensin-1. Thus, we fully characterized the antibacterial activity of medical-grade honey.—Kwakman, P. H. S., te Velde, A. A., de Boer, L., Speijer, D., Vandenbroucke-Grauls, C. M. J. E., Zaat, S. A. J. How honey kills bacteria.