Vet World Vol.17 January-2024 Article-18
Review Article
Veterinary World, 17(1): 156-170
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.156-170
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus larvae: A novel source for combating broad-spectrum bacterial and fungal infections
2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Sam Ratulangi University, Manado 95115, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
3. Department of Biotechnology, Indonesia Biodiversity and Biogeography Research Institute (INABIG), Bandung 40132, West Java, Indonesia.
4. Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sam Ratulangi University, Manado 95115, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
5. Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Sam Ratulangi University, Manado 95115, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Background and Aim: Antimicrobial resistance is a growing concern due to the growth of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, which makes it difficult to treat infection. Due to its broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties against a diverse array of bacteria, both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and fungi, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus larval antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have demonstrated potential as antimicrobial agents for the treatment of microbial infections and prevention of antibiotic resistance. This study emphasizes the unexplored mechanisms of action of R. ferrugineus larvae against microorganisms. Among the most widely discussed mechanisms is the effect of AMPs in larvae in response to a threat or infection. Modulation of immune-related genes in the intestine and phagocytic capacity of its hemocytes may also affect the antimicrobial activity of R. ferrugineus larvae, with an increase in phenoloxidase activity possibly correlated with microbial clearance and survival rates of larvae. The safety and toxicity of R. ferrugineus larvae extracts, as well as their long-term efficacy, are also addressed in this paper. The implications of future research are explored in this paper, and it is certain that R. ferrugineus larvae have the potential to be developed as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent with proper investigation.
Keywords: antimicrobial, broad-spectrum, larvae, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus.
How to cite this article: Niode NJ, Kepel BJ, Hessel SS, Kairupan TS, and Tallei TE (2024) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus larvae: A novel source for combating broad-spectrum bacterial and fungal infections, Veterinary World, 17(1): 156-170.
Received: 16-10-2023 Accepted: 21-12-2023 Published online: 20-01-2024
Corresponding author: Trina Ekawati Tallei E-mail: trina_tallei@unsrat.ac.id
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.156-170
Copyright: Niode, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.