An antimicrobial peptide of the cathelicidin family that provides innate immune defense by killing pathogens and modulating inflammation and wound healing.
Kraaij. Marina D MD; van Dijk. Albert A; Haagsman. Henk P HP
The study shows that the human peptide LL‑37 (and similar chicken peptides) can change chicken immune cells by making them better at grabbing and showing off foreign bits, while also calming down inflammation caused by bacterial toxins. However, this was done in chicken blood cells, not humans, so it doesn’t give clear guidance for personal health use.
Milhan. Noala Vicensoto Moreira NVM; de Barros. Patricia Pimentel PP; de Lima Zutin. Elis Andrade EA...
LL-37, a natural antimicrobial peptide, was tested on human dental pulp stem cells in the lab. At 5‑10 µg/mL it didn’t kill the cells, actually helped them survive a bit more, and at the higher dose pushed them toward becoming tooth‑building cells by raising a protein called DSPP.
Sahebari. M M; Roshandel. G G; Saadati. N N; Saghafi. M M; Abdolahi. N N; Rezaieyazdi. Z Z
The study found that the antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 isn’t higher in people with lupus compared to healthy folks, but in those with active disease it goes up as the disease gets worse and it’s linked to the body’s antioxidant balance. This doesn’t give a clear way to use LL‑37 for health hacks in people without lupus.
Horibe. Kanji K; Hosoya. Akihiro A; Hiraga. Toru T; Nakamura. Hiroaki H
In rats, the natural antimicrobial peptide similar to human LL‑37 (called CRAMP) shows up in tooth‑building cells during development and re‑appears when teeth try to repair damage, hinting it might help form new dentin after a cavity.
Henningham. Anna A; Davies. Mark R MR; Uchiyama. Satoshi S; van Sorge. Nina M NM; Lund. Sean S; Chen...
The study shows that a sugar piece (GlcNAc) on the surface of the strep throat bacteria helps it resist being killed by the human immune peptide LL‑37, but this protection isn’t the same for all bacterial strains and isn’t always needed for the bacteria to cause disease.
Zhu. Yueniu Y; Xu. Liqun L; Collins. Jennifer J P JJP; Vadivel. Arul A; Cyr-Depauw. Chanèle C;...
In a rat study, giving newborn rats human umbilical‑cord stem cells after a bacterial infection helped more of them survive and cleared the bacteria faster. The treatment also raised levels of the natural antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 in the blood, but the work was done in newborn rats with sepsis, not in healthy adults.
Kozłowska. Elżbieta E; Wysokiński. Adam A; Brzezińska-Błaszczyk. Ewa E
A study of older women found that those with major depression had about double the amount of the immune peptide LL‑37 in their blood compared to non‑depressed peers, even though other common inflammation markers (CRP, white‑blood cells) were unchanged.
Tian. Xiao-Lin XL; Salim. Hasan H; Dong. Gaofeng G; Parcells. Madison M; Li. Yung-Hua YH
The study shows that the tooth‑decay bacterium Streptococcus mutans can normally survive the human antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 thanks to a special four‑gene system (BceABRS). When this system is broken, the bacteria become sensitive to LL‑37 and other host peptides, but the normal bacteria actually use low levels of these peptides to make stronger biofilms.
Urashima. Akiko A; Sanou. Ayano A; Yen. Hilo H; Tobe. Toru T
The study shows that a harmful gut bacterium (EHEC) can protect itself from the human antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 by releasing tiny vesicles loaded with a protein (OmpT). These vesicles soak up LL‑37, making the bacteria more resistant, especially when the bacteria are also turning on other disease‑related genes.
Manarang. Joseph C JC; Otteson. Deborah C DC; McDermott. Alison M AM
The study looked at whether the antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 (and a few others) affects how melanoma skin and eye cancer cells move or form blood‑vessel‑like structures. They found that melanoma cells do have higher LL‑37 levels compared to normal cells, but adding LL‑37 didn’t change the cells’ ability to migrate or create those vessel‑like networks. In short, LL‑37 doesn’t seem to influence key aggressive behaviors of these cancer cells.
Pramanik. Avijit A; Jones. Stacy S; Gao. Ye Y; Sweet. Carrie C; Begum. Salma S; Shukla. Manoj K MK;...
Scientists made a 3‑D sponge made of chitosan (a natural antimicrobial sugar) and carbon nanotubes that can trap and kill water‑borne germs like rotavirus and Shigella. By attaching the human antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 and a virus‑specific antibody to the sponge, they reported complete removal and inactivation of these pathogens in lab water samples.
The study looked at eye tissue from people with a growth called pterygium and compared it to normal eye tissue. It found that a protein called HBD‑2 was present in many of the pterygium samples but not in normal tissue, while another protein, LL‑37, was not found in either group.
Peng. Yun Y; Zhang. Suhan S; Zhao. Yi Y; Liu. Yi Y; Yan. Bing B
Researchers found that people with a certain skin‑muscle disease (dermatomyositis) who have a specific auto‑antibody (anti‑MDA5) also have higher levels of a protein called LL‑37 in their blood. This protein is part of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which seem to be linked to lung damage in these patients.
The study found that the antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 can make melanoma cancer cells grow and spread faster by boosting a protein called YB‑1 and activating a cell‑signaling pathway (NF‑κB).
Muñoz. Mindy M; Craske. Madeleine M; Severino. Patricia P; de Lima. Thais Martins TM; Labhart....
Scientists discovered that the antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 can move into the nucleus of melanoma cells and directly bind to DNA regions that control gene activity, reshaping the cells' gene expression patterns. This effect was seen in lab-grown cancer cells and doesn’t translate into any clear health‑boosting protocol for everyday use.
Abdelaal. Nagwa H NH; Rashed. Laila A LA; Ibrahim. Sahar Y SY; Abd El Halim. Mona H MH; Ghoneim. Noh...
The study found that kids with a scalp fungus (tinea capitis) have higher levels of the natural antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 in their hair compared to healthy kids, but the amount doesn’t differ much between the different forms of the infection.
Walker. Woolf T WT; Jackson. Claire L CL; Allan. Raymond N RN; Collins. Samuel A SA; Kelso. Michael...
People with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) have airway cells that let the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae stick and form biofilms more easily because their tiny hair‑like cilia don’t move well. The amount of the antimicrobial peptide LL‑37 the cells make isn’t different from normal cells, and adding extra nitric oxide (NO) together with antibiotics helps kill the bacterial biofilms better than antibiotics alone.
Bissonnette. Robert R; Fuentes-Duculan. Judilyn J; Mashiko. Shunya S; Li. Xuan X; Bonifacio. Kathlee...
The study looked at skin samples from people with a tough form of psoriasis on the palms and soles and found that several inflammatory signals, including the peptide LL‑37, are higher in this condition compared to milder forms. It shows the IL‑17A pathway is especially active, but it doesn’t give any new tips for boosting health or performance outside of treating this skin disease.
Ávila. Eva E EE; Salaiza. Norma N; Pulido. Julieta J; Rodríguez. Mayra C MC; Díaz-God...
The study shows that the gut parasite Entamoeba histolytica and a molecule it releases can quickly cause immune cells to spit out DNA nets (NETs) that contain the antimicrobial peptide LL‑37, but these nets don’t stop the parasite unless calcium‑dependent enzymes are blocked, meaning LL‑37 alone isn’t enough to kill it.
Colombo. Natália H NH; Ribas. Laís F F LF; Pereira. Jesse A JA; Kreling. Paula F PF; Kress...
The study looked at natural antimicrobial peptides in kids' saliva, including LL‑37, and found that the amount of each peptide alone didn’t differ between kids with or without severe cavities. However, when several peptides were present together, especially LL‑37, they were linked to worse cavity scores, likely reflecting the mouth’s response to infection rather than a protective effect.