Antimicrobial Peptides as Potential Alternatives to Antibiotics in Food Animal Industry

Abstract

Over the last decade, the rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens has become a global concern, which has prompted the search for alternative antibacterial agents for use in food animals. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), produced by bacteria, insects, amphibians and mammals, as well as by chemical synthesis, are possible candidates for the design of new antimicrobial agents because of their natural antimicrobial properties and a low propensity for development of resistance by microorganisms. This manuscript reviews the current knowledge of the basic biology of AMPs and their applications in non-ruminant nutrition. Antimicrobial peptides not only have broad-spectrum activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses but also have the ability to bypass the common resistance mechanisms that are placing standard antibiotics in jeopardy. In addition, AMPs have beneficial effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology and gut microbiota in pigs and broilers. Therefore, AMPs have good potential as suitable alternatives to conventional antibiotics used in swine and poultry industries.

Insect proteins as a potential source of antimicrobial peptides in livestock production. A review

“…The authors suggest that AMP-P5 at dietary concentrations of 60 mg · kg −1 may be used as a novel alternative to antibiotic growth promoters. The same beneficial effects of the AMP-A3 and AMP-P5 on growth performance were reported from experiments with broilers (Choi et al, 2013a,b;Wang et al, 2016).…”

“…The use of AMPs may be a promising alternative to antibiotics Xiao et al, 2013aXiao et al, ,b, 2015aYoon et al, 2013Yoon et al, , 2014Yi et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2016). The interest in insect AMPs is based on the knowledge from ancient times, where different insects were used in the treatment of a number of different ailments (Table 1).…”

Antimicrobial peptides as natural bio-preservative to enhance the shelf-life of food

“…Sarco toxin IIA, hymenoptaecin, attacin, diptericin and coleoptericin are examples of antimicrobial peptides produced by insects (Song and Zheng 2015;Wang et al 2016). …”

“…Hence, there is a pressing need to search new natural preservatives for the preservation of food. The major benefit of using antimicrobial peptides is that it preserves the food without changing its quality and it is not harmful (Wang et al 2016). Considering the problem of food-spoilage, food products can be preserved by using microbes and their antimicrobial products as bio-preservatives, which improve the shelf-life of food and enhance the food safety (Galvez et al 2014;Song et al 2014).…”

Interaction of cationic antimicrobial peptides from Australian frogs with lipid membranes

“…Many AMPs are isolated from animal cells, such as polymorphonuclear leukocytes, macrophages and mucosal epithelial cells, and play a vital role in host defense system . In contrast to traditional antibiotics that target specific cellular activities, AMPs have three advantages: (i) a broad‐spectrum activity against bacteria, fungi, transformed cells, parasites and viruses; (ii) less likelihood of bacterial resistance due to multiple attack mechanisms and functionality through manifold innate immune systems; and (iii) host protection through modulation of multiple innate immune systems rather than direct antimicrobial activity . In addition, AMPs preferentially interact with bacterial rather than mammalian cells, which makes them more potent against microorganisms without inducing significant toxicity to mammalian cells …”