Abstract
Increasing antibiotic resistance and ever stricter control on antibiotic use are a driving force to develop alternatives to antibiotics. One such strategy is the use of multifunctional Host Defense Peptides. Here we examined the protective effect of prophylactic treatment with the D analog of chicken cathelicidin-2 (D-CATH-2) against a respiratory E. coli infection. Chickens were treated with D-CATH-2 in ovo at day 18 of embryonic development or intramuscularly at days 1 and 4 after hatch. At 7 days of age, birds were challenged intratracheally with avian pathogenic E. coli. Protection was evaluated by recording mortality, morbidity (Mean Lesion Score) and bacterial swabs of air sacs at 7 days post-infection. In ovo D-CATH-2 treatment significantly reduced morbidity (63%) and respiratory bacterial load (>90%), while intramuscular treatment was less effective. D-CATH-2 increased the percentage of peripheral blood lymphocytes and heterophils by both administration routes. E. coli specific IgM levels were lower in in ovo treated animals compared to intramuscular D-CATH-2 treatment. In short, in ovo treatment with the Host Defense Peptide derived D-CATH-2 can partially protect chickens from E. coli infection, making this peptide an interesting starting point to develop alternatives to antibiotics for use in the poultry sector.
Highlights
Increasing antibiotic resistance and ever stricter control on antibiotic use are a driving force to develop alternatives to antibiotics
While in some species this class of Host Defense Peptides (HDPs) is represented by a single molecule (LL-37 in humans, CRAMP in mice), a wider repertoire of cathelicidins is found in other animals with the pig genome encoding for eleven of these peptides[1]
In this article we evaluate the prophylactic anti-infective efficacy of the D-amino acid analog of CATH-2 in young broiler chickens infected with avian pathogenic E. coli
Summary
Increasing antibiotic resistance and ever stricter control on antibiotic use are a driving force to develop alternatives to antibiotics One such strategy is the use of multifunctional Host Defense Peptides. We examined the protective effect of prophylactic treatment with the D analog of chicken cathelicidin-2 (D-CATH-2) against a respiratory E. coli infection. In ovo treatment with the Host Defense Peptide derived D-CATH-2 can partially protect chickens from E. coli infection, making this peptide an interesting starting point to develop alternatives to antibiotics for use in the poultry sector. Antibiotic resistance is a large and growing problem in both veterinary and human medicine This has caused an intense search for alternative means to prevent and fight infections. Chicken cathelicidin-2 (CATH-2) has previously shown multiple immunomodulatory effects including inhibition of LPS-induced effects and induction of chemokines[13,14]
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