Journal Article

The Potential of Fish Oil Components and Manuka Honey in Tackling Chronic Wound Treatment

Ratcliffe, Elizabeth, Clare, Jenna, Lindley, Martin R.

2024

Overview

Chronic wounds are becoming an increasing burden on healthcare services, as they have extended healing times and are susceptible to infection, with many failing to heal, which can lead ultimately to amputation. Due to the additional rise in antimicrobial resistance and emergence of difficult-to-treat Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp. (ESKAPE pathogens), novel treatments will soon be required asides from traditional antibiotics. Many natural substances have been identified as having the potential to aid in both preventing infection and increasing the speed of wound closure processes. Manuka honey is already in some cases used as a topical treatment in the form of ointments, which in conjunction with dressings and fish skin grafts are an existing US Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment option. These existing treatment options indicate that fatty acids from fish oil and manuka honey are well tolerated by the body, and if the active components of the treatments were better understood, they could make valuable additions to topical treatment options. This review considers two prominent natural substances with established manufacturing and global distribution—marine based fatty acids (including their metabolites) and manuka honey—their function as antimicrobials and how they can aid in wound repair, two important aspects leading to resolution of chronic wounds.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Acinetobacter baumannii / Amputation / anti-infective agents / antibiotic resistance / Antibiotics / Antimicrobial agents / Antimicrobial resistance / Arthritis / biofilm / Biofilms / Care and treatment / Chronic infection / Diabetes / Diet / disease susceptibility / docosahexaenoic acid / Drug approval / Drug resistance / eicosapentaenoic acid / Enterobacter / Enterococcus faecium / ESKAPE / Fatty acids / Fish oils / Fish skin / Foot diseases / Health aspects / health services / Honey / Infection / Infections / Inflammation / Klebsiella / Klebsiella pneumoniae / Leg ulcers / manuka honey / Medical dressings / Metabolites / Methicillin / Military bases / Pathogens / Pseudomonas aeruginosa / resolvins / Review / Skin grafts / Staphylococcus aureus / Wound healing / Wound infection / wound treatment / Wounds and injuries