Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sensory Organs, University of Bari, School of Medicine, Bari, Italy.
MEBIC Consortium, San Raffaele Open University of Rome and IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Curr Pharm Des. 2018;24(10):1043-1053. doi: 10.2174/1381612824666180403123736.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are phylogenetically ancient substances released by living organisms for self protection against a broad variety of microbes. Moreover, AMPs are endowed with immune modulatory activities, linking innate and adaptive immunity together. Lantibiotics are AMPs of bacterial origin currently investigated for the generation of a new class of anti-infective compounds, owing to the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance against a broad variety of bacteria. Also, plants and marine AMPs are screened as novel drugs against human pathogens. Human AMPs encompass defensins and cathelicidins produced by various cell types mostly at mucosal sites. Besides their antimicrobial activity, both AMPs have been shown to trigger either inflammatory or anti-inflammatory pathways. Food-derived AMPs are mostly represented by lactoferrin and lysozyme both present in secretions, e.g., milk, and appear to be very exploitable for the generation of functional foods. Finally, the role of natural products ingested with food or administered as supplements on induction and production of AMPs will be discussed.
抗菌肽 (AMPs) 是生物为了抵御各种微生物而自我保护而释放的一种具有古老进化历史的物质。此外，抗菌肽还具有免疫调节活性，将先天免疫和适应性免疫联系在一起。类细菌素是一种源于细菌的抗菌肽，目前正被研究用于生成一类新的抗感染化合物，这归因于对各种细菌的抗生素耐药现象。此外，植物和海洋抗菌肽也被筛选为针对人类病原体的新型药物。人类抗菌肽包括防御素和cathelicidins，由各种细胞类型在黏膜部位产生。除了具有抗菌活性外，这两种抗菌肽都被证明能引发炎症或抗炎途径。来源于食物的抗菌肽主要有乳铁蛋白和溶菌酶，它们都存在于分泌物中，如牛奶，并且似乎非常适合用于生成功能性食品。最后，将讨论食物中摄入的天然产物或作为补充剂对 AMPs 的诱导和产生的作用。
