Les défensines en physiopathologie humaine

Defensins make up a family of natural antimicrobian peptides widely involved in non-specific, or inborn, immunity. In man, these peptides, which have a broad spectrum of antimicrobian activity, may be divided into two groups: α-defensins, present within some secretory granules of leukocytes or specialised immune cells, and β-defensins, present in a wide range of epithelia and many organs. Not only do defensins play a leading role in infectious diseases, but also do they modulate inflammatory response. This article draws up a general sketch of the antimicrobian activity of defensins in discrete systems or organs, in health and disease, taking as a paradigm a cluster of three major epithelia: digestive, cutaneous, and respiratory. Eventually, some therapeutic prospects are contemplated because albeit ancestral, defensins are also molecules of the future.