title: Antimicrobial Peptides as Potential Alternatives to Antibiotics in Food Animal Industry.
abstract: Over the last decade, the rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens has become a global concern, which has prompted the search for alternative antibacterial agents for use in food animals. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), produced by bacteria, insects, amphibians and mammals, as well as by chemical synthesis, are possible candidates for the design of new antimicrobial agents because of their natural antimicrobial properties and a low propensity for development of resistance by microorganisms. This manuscript reviews the current knowledge of the basic biology of AMPs and their applications in non-ruminant nutrition. Antimicrobial peptides not only have broad-spectrum activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses but also have the ability to bypass the common resistance mechanisms that are placing standard antibiotics in jeopardy. In addition, AMPs have beneficial effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology and gut microbiota in pigs and broilers. Therefore, AMPs have good potential as suitable alternatives to conventional antibiotics used in swine and poultry industries.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. wangshuai0919@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. zengxf@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiangfang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. yangqingcau@163.com.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. qiaoshy@mafic.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Shiyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qiao
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002645:Chickens; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides
keywords: antibiotic resistance; antimicrobial peptides; applications; poultry; swine