Safety evaluation of the antimicrobial peptide bovicin HC5 orally administered to a murine model

摘要

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.