Oral administration of specific yolk antibodies (IgY) may prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in patients with cystic fibrosis: A phase I feasibility study

Abstract

Respiratory infection is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infections ultimately occur in virtually all patients. It is impossible to eradicate PA when a patient has been chronically colonized. Immunotherapy with specific egg-yolk antibodies (IgY) may be an alternative to antibiotics for the prevention of PA infections. We wanted to determine if treatment with specific IgY can prolong the period between the first and the second PA colonization? And long-term, can the treatment diminish the number of positive PA cultures and postpone the onset of chronic colonization? CF patients gargled daily with an IgY-antibody preparation, purified from eggs of hens immunized with PA bacteria. They were compared to a group of patients who did not gargle with the preparation. Both groups had their first colonization with PA eradicated by antibiotics. The basic treatment was essentially the same in both groups. In the initial study, the period between the first and second colonization with PA was significantly prolonged for the treated vs. the control group (Kaplan-Meier P = 0.015, Breslow test). In the prolonged study, the treated group had only 2.5 sputum cultures positive for PA per 100 months of observation, and none of these patients became chronically colonized with PA. No adverse events were reported. In the control group, 13.7 cultures per 100 months of observation were positive for PA, and 5 (24%) patients became chronically colonized with PA. This feasibility study shows that antipseudomonal IgY has the potential to effectively prevent PA colonization without any severe adverse effects. A phase III study should be initiated.

Cross-Protection of Chicken Immunoglobulin Y Antibodies against H5N1 and H1N1 Viruses Passively Administered in Mice

“…Furthermore, in the event that entirely new viral strains appear, IgY can be produced within 6 weeks of vaccinating the hens. Finally, egg IgY is well tolerated in humans and has been used for long-term treatments of oral and intestinal pathogens without any serious side effects (5,6). Thus, this approach has great potential in helping to control highly pathogenic influenza viruses at the source of infection before they spread worldwide and cause a pandemic.…”

“…Recently, results have shown that in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF), IgY raised against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (a major cause of chronic lung infection in CF patients) can provide significant protection against colonization of the respiratory tract by this pathogenic organism (6). In addition, this treatment has been shown to be safe in humans, probably due to the fact that there are no Fc receptors for chicken IgY and there are no antibodies produced against IgY in people that are treated (1).…”

Anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosaIgY antibodies promote bacterial opsonization and augment the phagocytic activity of polymorphonuclear neutrophils

“…The anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa IgY antibodies employed in these experiments were harvested from egg yolks of White leghorn chickens immunized with 6 different Pseudomonas aeruginosa O-antigen strains (O1, O3, O5, O6, O9, and O11) and manufactured according to the standard procedure described by Kollberg et al 46 producing doses of 70 ml volume containing 50 mg IgY. Control IgY (C-IgY) (Immunsystem I.M.S. AB, Uppsala, Sweden) originates from naive (non-immunized) chickens and serves as chicken IgY polyclonal isotype control and specifically tested not to cross react with P. aeruginosa.…”

Avian Antibodies (IgY)-A New Weapon against Antibiotic Resistance

“…In vitro IgY inhibits the adhesion of Salmonella enteritidis to human intestinal cells [10]. Oral administration of IgY from hens immunized with three serotypes of rotavirus prevents diarrhoea in mice infected with murine rotavirus Lung infections: Anti-pseudomonas IgY prevents colonization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lungs and reduces the number of antibiotic treatment in patients with CF [11]. A phase III study supported by EU has just been concluded.…”