Table 1.

The Direct Antimicrobial Activities of Selected Human Neuropeptides Against Various Strains of Bacteria, Fungi and Protozoa Parasites Within the Species Listed

NEUROPEPTIDES	SP	NPY (NPY13-36)	CGRP	VIP	AM	α-MSH	References
Bacteria, Gram negative
Escherichia coli	4.2 - 400 µM	4.2 - 11 µM	0.55 µM	1.5 µM	0.06 µM	1 - 100 µM*	[8-11, 124]
Klebsiella pneumoniae	>370 µM	>117 µM	-	-	-	-	[ 9]
Proteus vulgaris	>370 µM	-	-	-	-	-	[9]
Pseudomonas aeruginosa	11.7 - >370 µM	31 - >117 µM	1.5 µM	1.2 µM	-	-	[9-11]
Moraxella catarrhalis	100 µM*	100 µM* (8 - 12.5 µM)	100µM*	-	-	-	[21]
Haemophilus influenzae	>370 µM*	100 µM* (25 - 30 µM)	100µM*	-	2 µM	-	[8, 21]
Aeromonas caviae	-	14 µM	-	-	-	-	[13]
Bacteria, Gram positive
Staphylococcus aureus	50 - 370 µM	>117 µM	>132 µM	>150 µM	2 µM	1 pM*- 100 µM*	[7-11, 18, 124]
Enterococcus faecalis	>370 µM	4.6 - 29 µM	>132 µM	>150 µM		-	[9, 11, 13]
Streptococcus mutans	128 - >370 µM	49 - >117 µM	>132 µM	45 µM	2 µM	-	[8, 10, 11]
Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans	>370 µM	>117 µM	-	-	-	-	[10]
Lactobacillus acidophilus	55 µM	66 µM	>117 µM	>150 µM	-	-	[11]
Nocarida brasiliensis	-	7 µM*	-	-	-	-	[13]
Fungi
Candida albicans	6 - >370 µM	5.6 - > 57 µM (1 - 2 µM)	16.6 µM	13.9 µM		1 -100 µM*	[6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 125]
Candida krusei	-	(4 - 8 µM)*	-	-	-	-	[12]
Candida tropicalis	-	(4 - 8 µM)*	-	-	-	-	[12]
Candida utilis	-	(4 - 8 µM)*	-	-	-	-	[12]
Cryptococcus neoformans	-	5.7 - 7 µM	-	-	-	-	[13]
Arthroderma simii	-	3.4 - 4.7 µM	-	-	-	-	[13]
Parasites
Trypanosoma brucei	-	-	-	3 µM*	1.8 µM*	9 µM*	[14, 29]
Leishmania major	-	5.8 µM*	-	-	-	-	[13]

^*Refers to ≥ LD₅₀ - (the dose that causes at least 50% killing). In other cases minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was measured.

^“-”means no data available.