**5.1 Antimicrobial peptides**

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are present in almost all animals, are host defense peptides because they possess traits of both innate and adaptive immune systems. Short-polypeptide antimicrobial peptides called have a cationic characteristic and an amphipathic structure (usually no more than 60 amino acids). The majority of antimicrobial peptides operate as the first line of defense against a variety of pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoan parasites [29]. A recent analysis of publicly available patent data on the therapeutic use of antimicrobial peptides from 2003 to 2015 revealed that the majority of the claimed antimicrobial peptides were also described as the effective modulators of inflammation or neutralizers of pathogenic toxins in addition to being potent antibiotics [3, 30].
