Honey stimulates production of IL-8 chemokine by HT-29 intestinal epithelial cells

Inflammation is a fundamental response the body towards counteracting infections restoring damaged tissues. While inflammation good, excessive inflammation can cause effects including inflammatory bowel (IBD) such as Crohn's disease and colitis. Honey has been used since ancient various kinds of health disorders, many remain to be scientifically proven. Recent studies suggest that manuka honey has potential in the treatment of IBD. In the present the effect of Malaysian honey samples synthesis of the pro-inflammatory chemokine IL-8 by the intestinal epithelial cell line HT-29 was compared to that of manuka honey. The Malaysian honeys tested included one Tualang honey sample and four kelulut honey samples from different places in Peninsular Malaysia. The viability of HT-29 cells when treated with a series of doubling dilutions of honey in culture media (i.e. 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25, 3.125, 1.5625, and 0.3906 mg/mL) was first assessed using MTS cell proliferation assay. Concentration honey at 1mg/mL was used to treat HT-29 cells in subsequent experiments. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used as an inflammatory stimulant. Production of IL-8 by HT-29 cells when treated with the honey samples for 24 hours with or without LPS pre-stimulation was next quantified using ELISA. All honey samples were found to induce production of IL-8 by HT-29 cells at varying levels. While LPS stimulated IL-8 synthesis by HT-29 cells, the addition of honey further enhanced this effect. Further tests are needed to confirm if honey-induced stimulation of IL-8 from intestinal epithelial cells observed herein is partly related to the therapeutic effects of honey in IBD.