Using frogs to fight the flu

“In 2012, scientists took that particular frog and wanted to know why is it, why do these frogs keep milk fresh? It turned out that when you shock a frog or when you stimulate them or stress them, they secrete these short peptides into their surroundings,” he said. “A majority of the peptides were antibacterial and some of them kill the things that make milk go bad.”

Those scientists, who published their findings in the Journal of Proteome Research, found that the peptides were just as effective as some antibiotics in fighting bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enterica, which can make humans sick.

Separate studies have also shown that various amphibian and fish antimicrobial peptides play important roles in protecting the animals against invasive pathogens, including viruses.

“Amphibians, especially certain groups of frogs, produce and store large amounts of antimicrobial peptides in specialised granular glands in the skin,” said Louise Rollins-Smith, associate professor of pathology, microbiology, and immunology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “When the skin is injured or the frog is alarmed, they release large amounts of the peptides to protect the skin.”

Rollins-Smith, who was not involved in the new study, has conducted separate research on whether certain antimicrobial peptides in frogs might hold clues to preventing HIV transmission.

“The peptide described in the Immunity report is somewhat unusual because of the apparent specificity,” Rollins-Smith said about how urumin specifically targets H1 viruses.

“If further studies show that it has a low level of cytotoxicity and it can protect in other animal models of influenza, it could be developed as a potential treatment for influenza,” she said. Cytoxicity refers to being toxic to cells in the body.

“As an amphibian biologist concerned about the loss of amphibian species around the globe, it is important to note that they may hold important secrets us