›› 2019, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (8): 2346-2353.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2019.08.019

• Animal Nutrition and Feed Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Advance on Procine β Defensins

LIANG Yu, ZHANG Kun, WANG Mengyun, ZHAO Xinhao, LI Chunli   

  1. College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
  • Received:2019-01-23 Online:2019-08-20 Published:2019-08-17

Abstract:

β defensins are a class of antimicrobial peptides secreted by pigs.They are widely distributed in tissues and play an important role in resisting pathogenic microorganism and immune regulation.Porcine β defensins have strong inhibitive activity against bacteria, fungi and viruses, and have the advantages of small molecular weight, high heat stability and no residue, making them an ideal antibiotic substitute.Researches have showed that the expression of porcine β defensins positively correlate with disease resistance.It can enhance immunity and promote growth of pigs by increasing the expression of endogenous defensins or ingesting exogenous defensins.Exogenous stimulus such as fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, probiotics and microorganisms could affect the expression of β defensins.With the deep researches of defenses, they are expected to solve the problems of drug resistance, drug residues and environmental pollution caused by long-term use of antibiotics in pig production.This paper reviews recent advances in porcine β defensins, including structure characteristics, expression specificity and biological function.The effects of exogenous stimuli on the expression of defensins and their mechanisms are mainly reviewed.The preliminary applications of exogenous β defensins as feed additives in piglet production are analyzed in order to lay the foundation for pig β defensins researches and their application in healthy pig breeding.

Key words: porcine β defensins; immune; expression; application

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