Departamento De Ciências Físicas E Biológicas - DCFB, Centro De Ciências Biológicas E Da Saúde - CCBS, Universidade Regional Do Cariri - URCA, Brazil.
Indian J Pharmacol. 2008 Jan;40(1):3-9. doi: 10.4103/0253-7613.40481.
The increase of microbial resistance to antibiotics has led to a continuing search for newer and more effective drugs. Antimicrobial peptides are generally found in animals, plants, and microorganisms and are of great interest to medicine, pharmacology, and the food industry. These peptides are capable of inhibiting pathogenic microorganisms. They can attack parasites, while causing little or no harm to the host cells. The defensins are peptides found in granules in the polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and are responsible for the defense of the organism. Several animal defensins, like dermaseptin, antileukoprotease, protegrin, and others, have had their activities and efficacy tested and been shown to be effective against bacteria, fungi, and protists; there are also specific defensins from invertebrates, e.g., drosomycin and heliomicin; from plants, e.g., the types A and B; and the bacteriocins, e.g., acrocin, marcescin, etc. The aim of the present work was to compile a comprehensive bibliographic review of the diverse potentially antimicrobial peptides in an effort to systematize the current knowledge on these substances as a contribution for further researches. The currently available bibliography does not give a holistic approach on this subject. The present work intends to show that the mechanism of defense represented by defensins is promising from the perspective of its application in the treatment of infectious diseases in human, animals and plants.
抗生素耐药性的增加导致人们不断寻找更新、更有效的药物。抗菌肽通常存在于动物、植物和微生物中，对医学、药理学和食品工业具有重要意义。这些肽能够抑制致病微生物。它们可以攻击寄生虫，而对宿主细胞几乎没有或没有伤害。防御素是在多形核中性粒细胞（PMN）颗粒中发现的肽，负责机体的防御。几种动物防御素，如 dermaseptin、抗白细胞蛋白酶、protegrin 等，其活性和功效已得到测试，证明对细菌、真菌和原生动物有效；还有来自无脊椎动物的特定防御素，如 drosomycin 和 heliomicin；来自植物的防御素，如 A 型和 B 型；以及细菌素，如 acrocin、marcescin 等。本研究旨在编写一份全面的文献综述，综述各种潜在的抗菌肽，努力将这些物质的现有知识系统化，作为进一步研究的贡献。目前的文献并没有全面地介绍这个主题。本研究旨在表明，防御素所代表的防御机制在治疗人类、动物和植物的传染病方面具有广阔的应用前景。
