ArticlePloS one2013
Intravenous administration of manuka honey inhibits tumor growth and improves host survival when used in combination with chemotherapy in a melanoma mouse model.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 131 citations in OpenAlex.
- Honey and cancer: from traditional medicine to modern adjuvant therapy.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Tolerance of chickens to acute and sub-acute intravenous administration of raw filtered honey.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Review on role of honey in disease prevention and treatment through modulation of biological activities.Open life sciences · 2025Review
- An Interventional Study of Application of Manuka Honey in Post Mastoidectomy Surgery.Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India · 2024Article
- Understanding the Anticancer Properties of Honey.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Antitumor Effects and the Potential Mechanism of 10-HDA against SU-DHL-2 Cells.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Differential in vitro cytotoxic effects and metabolomic insights into raw and powdered Manuka honey through UPLC-Q-TOF-MS.Scientific reports · 2024Article
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- Quantitative analysis of biochemical characteristics and anti-cancer properties in MCF-7 breast cancer cell line: a comparative study between Ziziphus jujube honey and commercial honey.Molecular biology reports · 2024Article
- Effects ofActa medica Philippina · 2024Article
- Oral administration of Manuka honey induces IFNγ-dependent resistance to tumor growth that correlates with beneficial modulation of gut microbiota composition.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Exploring the antimicrobial efficacy of Manuka honey against multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistantFuture microbiology · 2024Article
- Differential Apoptotic Effects of Bee Product Mixtures on Normal and Cancer Hepatic Cells.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Physicochemical Characteristics and Bioactive Compounds of Different Types of Honey and Their Biological and Therapeutic Properties: A Comprehensive Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Leptospermum extract (QV0) suppresses pleural mesothelioma tumor growthFrontiers in oncology · 2023Article
- Uses of Natural Honey in Cancer: An Updated Review.Advanced pharmaceutical bulletin · 2022Review
- Metabolomic Profiling of Malaysian and New Zealand Honey Using Concatenated NMR and HRMS Datasets.Metabolites · 2022Article
- Attenuated Salmonella potentiate PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy in a preclinical model of colorectal cancer.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Characterization of immunomodulatory responses induced by manuka honey.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Manuka honey has been recognized for its anti-bacterial and wound-healing activity but its potential antitumor effect is poorly studied despite the fact that it contains many antioxidant compounds. In this study, we investigated the antiproliferative activity of manuka honey on three different cancer cell lines, murine melanoma (B16.F1) and colorectal carcinoma (CT26) as well as human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells in vitro. The data demonstrate that manuka honey has potent anti-proliferative effect on all three cancer cell lines in a time- and dose-dependent manner, being effective at concentrations as low as 0.6% (w/v). This effect is mediated via the activation of a caspase 9-dependent apoptotic pathway, leading to the induction of caspase 3, reduced Bcl-2 expression, DNA fragmentation and cell death. Combination treatment of cancer cells with manuka and paclitaxel in vitro, however, revealed no evidence of a synergistic action on cancer cell proliferation. Furthermore, we utilized an in vivo syngeneic mouse melanoma model to assess the potential effect of intravenously-administered manuka honey, alone or in combination with paclitaxel, on the growth of established tumors. Our findings indicate that systemic administration of manuka honey was not associated with any alterations in haematological or clinical chemistry values in serum of treated mice, demonstrating its safety profile. Treatment with manuka honey alone resulted in about 33% inhibition of tumor growth, which correlated with histologically observable increase in tumor apoptosis. Although better control of tumor growth was observed in animals treated with paclitaxel alone or in combination with manuka honey (61% inhibition), a dramatic improvement in host survival was seen in the co-treatment group. This highlights a potentially novel role for manuka honey in alleviating chemotherapy-induced toxicity.
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