Abstract
BackgroundBovicin HC5 is an antimicrobial peptide that shows a broad spectrum of activity and potential for biotechnological and therapeutic applications. To gain insight about the safety of bovicin HC5 application, the histological and immunostimulatory effects of orally administrated bovicin HC5 to BALB/c mice were evaluated. BALB/c mice were divided into three groups: negative control (NC group); mice given purified bovicin HC5 (Bov group); mice given ovalbumin (positive control, PC group; a murine model of enteropathy). The mice were initially pre-sensitized, and PBS, bovicin HC5 or ovalbumin were administered for 30 days by daily gavages. Histological and morphometric analysis were performed and the relative expression of cytokines was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR.ResultsThe oral administration of bovicin HC5 to BALB/c mice reduced weight gain and caused alterations in the small intestine, although absorptive changes have not been detected. The number of total goblet cells and the mucopolysaccharides production were not affected by bovicin HC5 administration. A hypertrophy of Paneth cells and an increase in the number of mitotic cells were observed in Bov group, while the number of mast cells remained unaltered. Increased expression of TNF-α, INF-γ and IL-12 was observed in the small intestine upon bovicin HC5 administration.ConclusionBovicin HC5 has only minor effects on intestinal permeability and did not elicit an allergenic response upon oral administration to animal models. Considering the low in vivo toxicity of bovicin HC5, it might be a good candidate for enteral applications.
Highlights
Bovicin HC5 is an antimicrobial peptide that shows a broad spectrum of activity and potential for biotechnological and therapeutic applications
Our results indicate that the effects of bovicin HC5 and ovalbumin administration are more pronounced in the intestine, which can explain the significant reduction in spleen cellularity observed in Bov and PC groups: immune cells probably migrated from the spleen to the intestine, where the main effects were observed
We have previously demonstrated that bovicin HC5, in higher concentrations, was able to permeabilize membranes in an unspecific way [13], but one should bear in mind that antimicrobial peptides can modulate the microbial community composition in the intestine which could explain the partial destruction of small intestine cells caused by bovicin HC5 administration
Summary
Bovicin HC5 is an antimicrobial peptide that shows a broad spectrum of activity and potential for biotechnological and therapeutic applications. The most well-known bacteriocin, is produced by Lactococcus lactis strains and it belongs to the lantibiotic class of bacteriocins; nisin has GRAS status (Generally Recognized as Safe) and is currently the only bacteriocin approved for use as a food preservative [1]. Other bacteriocins, such as pediocin PA-1/AcH and lacticin 3147, are commercially available, but are marketed as fermentates of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) having GRAS status [2]. Despite the good results obtained in vitro, the large scale application of lantibiotics remains limited due to the lack of data regarding clinical aspects, including the destiny of the peptides after ingestion, the loss of antimicrobial activity, the cytotoxicity and the immunostimulatory effects triggered by these peptides in vivo [5]
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