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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Isolation and Identification of Bacterial Strains from Skin of Terrestrial Amphibians
Published on: June 17, 2025
Amphibian antimicrobial peptides and Protozoa: lessons from parasites
Luis Rivas1, Juan Román Luque-Ortega, David Andreu
1Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas-CSIC, Ramiro de Maeztu 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain. luis.rivas@cib.csic.es
Abstract:
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from amphibians and other eukaryotes recognize pathogenicity patterns mostly related to differences in membrane composition between the host and a variety of bacterial, fungal and protozoan pathogens. Compared to the other two groups, protozoa are fairly neglected targets in antimicrobial chemotherapy, despite their role as causative agents for scourges such as malaria, amoebiasis, Chagas' disease or leishmaniasis. Herein we review the scarce but growing body of knowledge addressing the use of amphibian AMPs on parasitic protozoa, the adaptations of the protozoan to AMP pressure and their impact on AMP efficacy and specificity, and the current and foreseeable strategies for developing AMPs into practical therapeutic alternatives against parasitic disease.
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