Bovicin HC5 has been suggested as a potential alternative to classical antibiotics in livestock production and as an additive for food preservation [15, 16]. To gain insight about the safety use of bovicin HC5 on animal hosts, we analyzed the effects of orally administrated bovicin HC5 to BALB/c mice,
focusing on gastrointestinal permeability, morphological alterations in the GI tract and the immunostimulatory effects of the peptide. We used a murine model of enteropathy induced by sensitization to compare the effects caused by the administration of bovicin HC5. Results The administration of bovicin HC5 induces less weight gain in BALB/c mice The weight of BALB/c mice was monitored during the trial Napabucasin order period to verify if the sensitization followed
by challenge with bovicin HC5 or ovalbumin affected weight gain of the animals, which could indicate clinical MG-132 concentration manifestation VX 770 of allergy or gastrointestinal disorders. Symptoms as diarrhea, intestinal bleeding or rectal prolapsed were not observed. Prior to the experiment, no significant differences were detected among the average weight of the mice (18.5, 18.4 and 18.3 g to NC, Bov and PC groups, respectively). In the NC group, the average mice weight ranged from 18.5 ± 0.35 g (day 0) to 20.8 ± 0.31 g (day 58), or a weight gain of 11.01% along the trial period. Animals sensitized with bovicin HC5 or ovalbumin gained weight only during the three initial weeks of the experiment, before starting the oral administration of bovicin HC5 or ovalbumin. After 58 days of experiment, the percentage of weight gain was 0.91 and −1.8% for animals of the Bov and PC groups, respectively, which was significantly lower compared to the NC group Y-27632 2HCl (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference of weight gain between the Bov and PC groups (Figure 1). Figure 1 Gain or loss of body weight in BALB/c mice during the experimental
period. The gain/loss of weight is shown as percentage of the animals’ weight, which was calculated comparing the weight at the end of the experiment (day 58) to the weight at the day of the first immunization (day 0). Each bar represents the percentage of weight gain obtained from two independent experiments, with the standard deviation (SD) (N = 8 animals per group). Statistically significant differences among treatments by the Dunn’s multiple comparison test (p < 0.05) were indicated by different lowercase letters (“a” or “b”) above the error bars. (NC) negative control group; (Bov) mice treated with bovicin HC5; (PC) positive control group. Gastrointestinal permeability is not altered upon oral administration of bovicin HC5 No β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) was detected in serum samples obtained before β-LG administration or in samples from the NC group after administration of β-LG. In sera obtained from animals of the PC group, significant amounts of β-LG were detected after 0.5, 1 and 2 h of β-LG administration (3.47 mg ml-1, 3.53 mg ml-1 and 12.