Mechanisms of action of Manuka Honey as a potential treatment for BPS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mechanisms of action of Manuka Honey as a potential treatment for Bladder Pain Syndrome/ Interstitial Cystitis: clinical and laboratory studies
IRAS ID
246784
Contact name
Bashir/ Abdulgader Lwaleed
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton.
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 9 days
Research summary
Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis (BPS/IC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the urinary bladder wall. Mast cells represent a type of immune cell widely thought to be responsible for the bladder inflammation seen in BPS/IC. This inflammation results when substances are released from the mast cells when they respond to other chemicals within the bladder wall. In the proposed study, the following will be investigated:
(1) A special stain that makes mast cells visible in tissues viewed under a microscope (called Immunohistochemistry (IHC)) will be used to investigate both the numbers and the activation status (i.e. whether the mast cells are releasing substances or not) of mast cells in urinary bladder tissue samples (or biopsies) obtained from tissue banks. The tissue samples will come from both BPS/IC patients and normal controls (patients without BPS/IC). This might give us an insight into exactly how mast cells contribute to the bladder wall inflammation in BPS/IC patients.
(2) Manuka honey has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects. This might be useful in helping treat the bladder wall inflammation seen in BPS/IC. This action might be through prevention of mast cell activation. To see if this is correct or not a study will be carried out in the laboratory using mast cells (called LAD-2 cells). These cells will be treated with agents causing inflammation (or activating agents) with or without Manuka Honey. Any pro-inflammatory (i.e. causing inflammation) agents released by the LAD-2 mast cells will be measured in the presence or absence of Manuka Honey to see if Honey treatment can reduce the amounts of these agents which are released from the LAD-2 cells and, by doing this, reduce inflammation. Such a study might provide evidence for the fact that Manuka honey is a natural anti-inflammatory agent in BPS/IC patients, and indeed in any other inflammatory condition or disease where mast cells play a role in keeping inflammation going.REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1853
Date of REC Opinion
7 Apr 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion