Oreochromicin-2 shows antimicrobial and immunostimulant effect against respiratory pathogens in pigs

Porcine respiratory diseases have a huge economic impact on pig production. The highest incidence of these diseases is commonly linked to Streptococcus suis, Pasteurella multocida and Bordetella bronchiseptica, some of which are zoonotic posing a risk to human health. The inappropriate and excessive use of conventional antibiotics, as usual procedure for treating respiratory diseases in pigs, has generated the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which urgently requires the development of alternative approaches to current antimicrobials. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have rapidly garnered interest as novel therapeutic candidates. Oreochromicin-2 (Oreoch-2), an AMP previously isolated from Oreochromis niloticus gills, has shown broad antibacterial properties against several species. However, studies about its effect on porcine respiratory pathogens and its potential use for the treatment of swine respiratory diseases are not available. In this work we determined the in vitro antimicrobial activity of the peptide against S. suis by a broth microdilution method. Oreoch-2 showed a MIC of 3.13 μM against this pathogen. For in vivo experiments, Yorkshire x Landrace crossbred (LYxL35) weaning pigs aged 30–33 days were allocated in pens containing ten pigs each. To study the influence of the peptide on health status, a total clinical score was determined. The administration of Oreoch-2 improved the clinical behavior of the animals, similar to the conventional antibiotic shotapen, respect to the placebo group. A reduction of bacterial loads in the respiratory tract and lungs was observed in Oreoch-2-treated animals as compared to the placebo group. It was shown that peptide treated-piglets displayed significantly higher serum IgG concentration compared to the control group. These results demonstrated Oreoch-2 potential as an antimicrobial and immunostimulant drug candidate against respiratory diseases in pigs.