Canadian-led study shows that maple syrup may boost the efficiency of antibiotics and reduce their side effects.
A new study carried out by a team of researchers from McGill University in Quebec, Canada, examined the effects of natural extracts from maple syrup on the antibiotics’ therapeutic action.
Presented at the American Chemical Society’s 253rd National Meeting & Exposition in San Francisco, the study suggests that the Canadian syrup can drastically improve antibiotics’ action without increasing their side effects.
“Native populations in Canada have long used maple syrup to fight infections. I have always been interested in the science behind these folk medicines,” says Tufenkji, who came up with the idea of investigating the antimicrobial action of maple syrup extract.
According to Medical News Today, the researchers tested the effect of maple syrup combined with the common antibiotics ciprofloxacin and carbenicillin.
It appeared that the two substances when mixed create a synergistic, destructive effect on biofilms, a thin layer of bacteria often resistant to antibiotics. This strong effect enabled the team to get the same antimicrobial effect than before but using up to 97% less antibiotic.
“Thus, [maple syrup extract] can be used as an antibiotic synergizer/potentiator for treatment of different types of bacterial infections,” concludes the study.
“The proposed synergism-based treatment may expand the spectrum of existing antimicrobials, prevent the emergence of resistant strains, and minimize potential cytotoxicity due to high antibiotic doses.”
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