2024–2025
Manuka Honey Inhibits Human Breast Cancer Progression in Preclinical Models
UCLA — research paper (full text) · ER-positive breast cancer; ~84% tumour reduction reported.
Research index
A one-stop research library — newest first.
The studies and protocols shaping the Medical Grade Honey conversation today, followed by the foundational library that built the field: Molan (Waikato), Cooper and Jenkins (Cardiff), Mavric (TU Dresden), Subrahmanyam, Kwakman and Bogdanov.
Oncology & breast cancer
Preclinical and integrative-oncology evidence is accelerating. Recent UCLA work reported substantial tumour reduction in ER-positive breast cancer models.
2025
UCLA Health news release — summary of tumour-reduction findings
UCLA Health
2026
Honey and cancer: from traditional medicine to modern integrative oncology
Frontiers in Oncology — review
Ophthalmology
A growing body of work on Manuka micro-emulsions and drops for dry eye, MGD and ocular-surface disease.
2026
Efficacy of Manuka honey eye drops in managing dry eye disease after cataract surgery
Research paper (full text)
Clinical trial
Optimel 16% Honey — safety and efficacy of Manuka eye drops in MGD
Optimel study
2025 clinical trials
Active and recently registered protocols using medical-grade honey in indications well beyond wound care.
2025
Effect of medical-grade honey (L-Mesitran) for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia II
BMJ Open — HONEY FOR CIN II study protocol
2025
Effects of 100% Medical Grade Manuka Honey on Tympanic Membrane Reconstruction Healing
ClinicalTrials.gov · NCT05605262
2025
Impact of Lepteridine-Standardized Manuka Honey on Quality of Life in Functional Dyspepsia
JMIR — trial protocol
Wound care & antibiotic resistance
Biofilm disruption, geriatric wound management and antibiotic re-sensitisation remain the most strategically important honey-research stories.
2024
Medical-Grade Honey Is a Versatile Wound Care Product for the Elderly
J Aging Res & Lifestyle — Chrysostomou, Pokorná, Cremers, Peters · Compares MGH against povidone-iodine, silver, enzymatic and absorbing dressings — MGH is the only product matching every ideal-dressing criterion.
2026
Success of Medical-Grade Honey in Treating Biofilm-Associated Chronic Wounds
Antibiotics (journal)
2025
Aston University — formulation designed to fight MRSA
News-Medical summary
Clinical practice & patient information
How medical honey is positioned inside the NHS and other public health systems — useful framing for clinicians and patients alike.
2015
Medical Honey Simplified — patient information leaflet
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust · NHS overview of medical-grade honey for wound care.
2025
Benefits of Manuka Honey — consumer health overview
WebMD — medically reviewed · Wounds, oral health, sore throat, ulcers, skin; NPA / MGO / DHA explained.
Updated review
Honey as a topical treatment for wounds (Cochrane Review)
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · May shorten healing times in mild burns and some surgical wounds.
The library
The foundational research.
The work the modern category is built on — from Molan's first 1981 survey of New Zealand honeys to the Cardiff mechanistic studies, the German MGO discovery, and the early Indian and Dutch clinical trials. Newest first within each school.
The Waikato school — Peter Molan and the modern rediscovery (1981–2015)
Professor Peter Molan (University of Waikato, NZ) is the reason Medical Grade Honey exists as a category. From 1981 until his death in 2015, he and his Honey Research Unit established the antibacterial profile of Manuka, characterised its non-peroxide activity (NPA), and pushed honey from folk remedy to regulated wound-care device.
2015
Honey: a biologic wound dressing
Molan PC, Rhodes T · Waikato Honey Research Unit
Final synthesis paper — definitive review of mechanisms and clinical use.
2013
The evidence supporting the use of honey as a wound dressing
Molan PC · Waikato
Cited in NHS and BNF positioning of honey-based dressings.
2009
DHA in nectar of Leptospermum scoparium converts to MGO in honey
Adams CJ, Manley-Harris M, Molan PC · Waikato
Connected nectar chemistry to the MGO seen in mature Manuka.
2008
Identification of the antibacterial component of Manuka honey: methylglyoxal
Mavric E, Wittmann S, Barth G, Henle T · TU Dresden
The MGO discovery — explained the non-peroxide activity (NPA) of Manuka in chemical terms.
1992
The antibacterial activity of honey 1 & 2
Molan PC · Bee World
The two papers that re-launched scientific interest in honey worldwide.
Cardiff — Rose Cooper, Jenkins and the antimicrobial mechanism (2000s–2010s)
The Cardiff Metropolitan University group (Rose Cooper, Rowena Jenkins and colleagues) did the indispensable work showing how Manuka kills bacteria — including MRSA, Pseudomonas and biofilm species — and how it re-sensitises resistant organisms to antibiotics.
2014
Manuka honey inhibits cell division in MRSA
Jenkins R, Burton N, Cooper R · Cardiff Met
Mechanistic — disruption of FtsZ and the division ring.
2012
Effect of Manuka honey on the structure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm
Roberts AEL, Maddocks SE, Cooper RA · Cardiff Met
Biofilm disruption — central to the chronic-wound rationale.
2011
Synergy between Manuka honey and oxacillin against MRSA
Jenkins R, Cooper R · Cardiff Met
Re-sensitisation of resistant organisms — the antibiotic-stewardship case.
2002
The sensitivity to honey of Gram-positive cocci of clinical significance
Cooper RA, Molan PC, Harding KG · Cardiff / Waikato
Bridge paper between the NZ and UK schools.
Clinical foundations — burns, surgical and chronic wounds (1980s–2000s)
The early clinical evidence base — small but rigorous trials, mostly outside the West, that proved honey wasn't just folklore.
2008
Randomised clinical trial of honey-impregnated dressings for venous leg ulcers
Jull A, Walker N, Parag V, Molan P, Rodgers A · University of Auckland
HALT trial — pivotal NHS-relevant evidence on chronic wounds.
2008
Honey-based dressings and wound care: an option for care in the United States
Dunford CE, Hanano R · University of Wales / Bradford
Helped open the US regulatory door for Medihoney.
1998
A prospective randomised clinical and histological study of superficial burn wound healing with honey and silver sulfadiazine
Subrahmanyam M · Burns journal
One of the most-cited burn-care honey trials.
1991
Topical application of honey in treatment of burns
Subrahmanyam M · Government Medical College, Maharashtra
Honey vs silver sulfadiazine in 104 burn patients — faster healing, less infection.
Composition, authenticity and global honey science (1980s–2010s)
The chemists, food scientists and apidologists whose work underpins every modern medical-grade specification — from sugar profile to MGO standardisation to NMR authenticity.
2014
Bee defensin-1 and its role in the antibacterial activity of honey
Kwakman PHS, Zaat SAJ · AMC Amsterdam
Identified bee defensin-1 as a key non-MGO activity driver — basis of Revamil.
2011
Two major medicinal honeys have different mechanisms of bactericidal activity
Kwakman PHS et al. · AMC Amsterdam
Manuka vs Revamil — peroxide, defensin and MGO compared head-to-head.
2008
Honey for nutrition and health: a review
Bogdanov S, Jurendic T, Sieber R, Gallmann P · Swiss Bee Research Centre
Foundational reference on composition and the food-medicine continuum.
2002
Antibacterial activity of honey against strains of Staphylococcus aureus from infected wounds
Cooper RA, Molan PC, Harding KG · Cardiff / Waikato
Often cited as the first rigorous MRSA-vs-honey paper.
1981
A survey of the antibacterial activity of some New Zealand honeys
Molan PC, Russell KM · Waikato
The original paper — the one that started it all.
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