Where is lysozyme found in animals

During an immune response, pro-inflammatory cytokines redirect nutrients away from growth and toward the immune response [ 51 , 52 ]. Although not the only mode of action, cytokines increased both muscle protein degradation and acute phase protein production [ 53 ]. Cytokines and acute phase proteins were measured in a study designed to elicit a low level immune response, to both confirm the chronic immune stimulation and to determine the effect of antibiotics and lysozyme on the immune response [ 13 ].

Interleukin-6 and pig major acute phase protein were unaffected by immune status. These changes in cytokines and acute phase proteins, as well as the performance changes observed, indicate that an acceptable level of immune response was generated in pigs reared in the dirty nursery to make inferences into the effect of antibiotics and lysozyme on chronically immune stimulated pigs.

Similarly, Lee et al. While these later studies used a different model acute Escherichia coli challenges , antibiotics and lysozyme fed to pigs reduced the immune response when exposed to pathogens. In addition to these studies, Cooper et al. It is clear that the microbiota are important to pig health and growth [ 26 , 55 ]. Unno et al. However, the use of chlortetracycline, sulfathiazole, and penicillin did not elicit a growth response making it impossible to determine if the change in microbiota was associated with improved performance.

Clearly, more work in this area is warranted. It is now well documented that lysozyme has antimicrobial qualities and improves pig performance and gastrointestinal health. It is likely that lysozyme alters the gastrointestinal bacterial population, either through direct bacterial elimination Gram-positive bacteria or changes to the ecology that favor one group of bacteria over another.

However, little work has been done looking at the effect of lysozyme on pig gastrointestinal microbial populations. In a small, proof of concept experiment, Maga et al. This small study clearly shows that lysozyme has the ability to alter microbial populations in vivo. Lysozyme was also shown to reduce enterotoxigenic E. However, the observed effect of lysozyme on E. The prevalence of Shiga-toxigenic E. The eae gene, which is an indicator gene for enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic E.

However, this gene increases over the course of the nursery phase, neither lysozyme or antibiotics seem to alter its abundance [ 20 ]. The different observations due to feeding lysozyme on E. Maga et al. Lysozyme decreased the levels of Firmicutes and increased the levels of Bacteroidetes in pig feces.

High levels of Bacteroidetes are associated with decreased nutrient absorption [ 59 ], but the level of change in piglets consuming lysozyme is unlikely to cause decreased absorption, especially considering the changes in gut morphology and performance observed when feeding lysozyme [ 12 , 13 ]. At the taxonomic Family or Order level, lysozyme decreased the abundance of bacteria associated with disease Mycobacteriaceae , Streptococcaceae , and Campylobacterales and increased bacteria associated with gastrointestinal health Bifidobacteriaceae and Lactobacillaceae.

These data support May et al. Campylobacter spp. These data were adapted from Wells et al. It is clear that feeding subtherapeutic levels of antibiotics improves performance and overall health and is used extensively throughout the swine industry. However, it is also clear that swine producers are under pressure to reduce or eliminate the use of antibiotics due to concerns over antibiotic resistance.

Research into possible alternatives is essential and will allow swine producers to keep the animal well-being and monetary advantages of antibiotics without the perceived negative effects of their use. Lysozyme is a natural antimicrobial already used in other facets of the food industry. In nursery pigs, lysozyme added to feed improves gastrointestinal health, reduces potential pathogen shedding, and improves growth and feed efficiency.

Therefore, lysozyme is a viable alternative to traditional subtherapeutic antibiotic use in swine production. Alternatives to the use of antibiotics as growth promoters for monogastric animals. Anim Biotechnol. Impact of dried skim milk in production diets on Lactobacillus and pathogenic bacterial shedding in growing-finishing swine.

J Appl Microbiol. The effects of dietary additives on faecal levels of Lactobacillus spp. Killing of gram-negative bacteria by lactoferrin and lysozyme. J Clin Invest. Regulatory factors of lymphocyte-lymphocyte interaction. Con A-induced mitogenic factor acts on the late G1 stage of T-cell proliferation. Microbiol Immunol. Recognition of peptidoglycan from the microbiota by Nod1 enhances systemic innate immunity. Nat Med. Consumption of pasteurized human lysozyme transgenic goats' milk alters serum metabolite profile in young pigs.

Transgenic Res. Consumption of milk from transgenic goats expressing human lysozyme in the mammary gland results in the modulation of intestinal microflora. Lysozyme transgenic goats' milk influences gastrointestinal morphology in young pigs. J Nutr. Rice expressing lactoferrin and lysozyme has antibiotic-like properties when fed to chicks. Granulated lysozyme as an alternative to antibiotics improves growth performance and small intestinal morphology of day-old pigs.

J Anim Sci. Lysozyme as an alternative to antibiotics improves growth performance and small intestinal morphology in nursery pigs. Lysozyme as an alternative to antibiotics improves performance in nursery pigs during an indirect immune challenge.

Fleming A. On a remarkable bacteriolytic element found in tissues and secretions. Proc R Soc. Salivary lysozyme, lactoferrin and peroxidases: Antibacterial effects on cariogenic bacteria and clinical applications in preventive dentistry.

Proc Finn Dent Soc. Jolles P, Jolles J. What's new in lysozyme research? Always a model system, today as yesterday. Mol Cell Biochem. Fujita A, Shimizu I and Abe T Distribution of lysozyme and protease, and amino acid concentration in the guts of a woodfeeding termite, Reticulitermes speratus Kolbe : possible digestion of symbiont bacteria transferred by trophallaxis; Physiol. Gantenbein B and Keightley P D Rates of molecular evolution in nuclear genes of east Mediterranean scorpions; Evolution 58 — Hoppe-Seyler — Grinde B Lysozyme from rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, as an antibacterial agent against fish pathogens; J.

Fish Dis. Hikima J-I, Minagawa S, Hirono I and Aoki T Molecular cloning, expression and evolution of the japanese flounder goose-type lysozyme gene, and the lytic activity of its recombinant protein; Biochim. Acta 35— Hultmark D Insect lysozymes; in Lysozymes: model enzymes in biochemistry and biology ed. Purification and properties of three inducible bactericidal proteins from hemolymph of immunized pupae of Hyalophora cecropia ; Eur. Effect of evolutionary substitutions on the antigenic structure of lysozyme; Biochemistry 18 — Iketani M and Morishima I Induction of antibacterial protein synthesis by soluble peptidoglycan in isolated fat-body from larvae of the silkworm, Bombyx mori ; Insect Biochem.

Irwin D M Evolution of cow nonstomach lysozyme genes; Genome 47 — Irwin D M Molecular evolution of ruminant lysozymes; in Lysozymes: model enzymes in biochemistry and biology ed.

Characterization of lysozyme cDNA clones from sheep and deer; J. Acta Enzymol. USA 77 — D 51 — Kirby A J The lysozyme mechanism sorted — after 50 years; Nat. Insect Biochem. USA 96 — Laible N J and Germain G R Bactericidal activity of human lysozyme, muramidase-inactive lysozyme and cationic polypeptides against Streptococcus sanguis and Streptococcus faecalis : inhibition by chitin oligosaccharides; Infect.

Food Chem. Purification, properties and secretory mechanism; Insect Biochem. USA 86 — Care Med. Masschalck B, Deckers D and Michiels C W Lytic and nonlytic mechanism of inactivation of gram-positive bacteria by lysozyme under atmospheric and high hydrostatic pressure; J.

Food Prot. Masschalck B and Michiels C W Antimicrobial properties of lysozyme in relation to foodborne vegetative bacteria; Crit. In general, the latter animals are known to produce i-type lysozymes. Although the homology in primary structure for representatives of these three lysozyme types is limited, their three-dimensional structures show striking similarities.

As part of their digestive process, huge numbers of fermentative bacteria flow into the stomach; those bacteria represent the animal's major source of dietary protein and must be efficiently digested. In contrast to most other animals, ruminants secrete large amounts of lysozyme into the lumen of their true stomachs the abomasum , a trick that appears to have evolved to facilitate digestion of bacteria coming from a fermentative foregut.

Interestingly, they have very low levels of lysozyme in other secretions.