Milk-derived antimicrobial peptides to protect against Neonatal Diarrheal Disease: An alternative to antibiotics

Abstract

Neonatal Diarrheal Disease is responsible for significant economic losses to the livestock industries in Canada and around the world. Microbes responsible are diverse and include Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Rotavirus, Coronavirus and Cryptosporidia. While the use of antibiotics as a treatment for bacterial infections and as a prophylactic additive in feed has dramatically improved cattle production in recent decades, the increasing pressure to reduce or eliminate use of antibiotics in animals has caused the livestock industry to seek appropriate alternatives. Antimicrobial/Host Defense Peptides are natural compounds present on skin and in secretions in plants and animals that are microbicidal for bacteria, viruses, and parasites and they stimulate the immune system to combat infectious diseases. Our objective is to establish orally-obtained Host Defense Peptides (HDPs) as an alternative to antibiotics to protect against Neonatal Diarrheal Disease in calves. We devised a method to allow the cow udder to act as a factory to produce HDPs so that suckling calves will receive a continuous oral dose of HDPs over several weeks to protect them against neonatal diarrhea. We will use Adenovirus to deliver a gene coding for several HDPs in-frame into mammary epithelial cells. The epithelial cells will secrete the HDP protein into milk to be consumed by the suckling calves and trypsin in the calf gut will release the HDPs through cleavage. Thus, the novelty of this research lies not only in the proposed alternative to antibiotics to protect neonates against disease, but in the method by which we introduce the peptides to the suckling offspring.

Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles and Their Efficient Antibacterial Application In Vitro against Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Pathogens

“…Antibiotics or antimicrobials have been widely utilized in various fields, such as medicine, food industry, agriculture, livestock, water treatment for diseases prevention, and pathogens eradication. Nevertheless, there is an increased concern related to multidrug-resistant microorganisms [1][2][3][4]. Worldwide, numerous scientists direct their efforts toward finding new alternatives for combating pathogens.…”

Intervention effect of Malus pumila leaf flavonoids on senna‐induced acute diarrhea in BALB/c mice

“…The use of antibiotics will eventually cause drug resistance in the body, thus diminishing their therapeutic effect (Hornick, 1967;Wilson, Buchanan, Allan, & Tikoo, 2012). Another class of alternative antibiotics, mostly antihistamines, has strong side effects.…”

Two angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitory peptides from almond protein and the protective action on vascular endothelial function

“…7 Peptides from a diverse range of food sources including milk products, cereals, soybeans and fish have shown a very wide spectrum of bioactive properties, such as antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, insulinotropic, immunomodulatory and antihypertensive effects. [8][9][10][11][12] The potential of some bioactive peptides has been exploited, for example in the production of functional foods with antihypertensive, hypocholesterolemic and other beneficial effects, 13 and in the development of food preservation and packaging with antimicrobial effects. 14 In particular, protein hydrolysates from several plant and animal origins, such as soft-shelled turtle egg white, 2 wheat bran, 4 plant food, 5 zein, 6 flaxseed, 15 sSpinach 16 and others, [17][18][19] have been reported to possess ACE inhibitory activity.…”