1Department of Ophthalmology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, 71345-1744, Iran.
2Department of Pathology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, 71345-1744, Iran.
3Gastroenterohepatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, 71345-1744, Iran.
*For correspondence: Tel/Fax: 98-711-6474263; E-mail: mehrabad@sums.ac.ir
To evaluate the healing effect of honey in Pseudomonas aeruginosa induced keratitis, 26 eyes of 26 white New Zealand Rabbits were experimentally infected with P. aeruginosa. Ten eyes were treated with a 90% concentration of natural honey, 10 with topical 0.3% ciprofloxacin and 6 eyes were left untreated. After one week, the eyes were enucleated and evaluated clinically and microscopically. All corneas showed an opaque stromal infiltration at least 20 h post injection with progressive expansion only in the untreated group. There were no significant differences in clinical signs between honey and ciprofloxacin groups while hypopyone formation and clinical infiltration were greater in the control group. Cellular infiltration and density of organism were comparable in the two groups. Corneal perforation was found to be greater in the control group. It is concluded that, topical application of honey may be as effective as ciprofloxacin in P. aeroginosa induced keratitis.
Honey, healing, keratitis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, ciprofloxacin
