Oral passive IgY-based immunotherapeutics

Abstract

This commentary summarizes the laboratory investigations and clinical trials published recently involving per-oral application of IgY supplemented food for specific orogastrointestinal disease prevention and control purposes. The prolonged use and misuse of conventional antibacterial drugs has spawned antibiotic resistant microbes prompting scientists to search for other germ-killing options. In particular, the use of IgY as a novel mode of immunotherapy using oral chicken immunoglobulin (IgY) to confer passive immunity has gained much interest as an inexpensive non-antibiotic alternative for the prophylaxis and treatment of a wide variety of infectious diseases. The stability of IgY in the orogastrointestinal tract and its safety profile has been well-documented. IgY has been used in the treatment or prevention of dental caries, periodontitis and gingivitis, gastritis and gastric ulcer, oral thrush and infant rotavirus diarrhea. The recent clinical trials on IgY with encouraging results has catapulted into the market novel nutraceutical or health supplements for therapeutic or prophylactic intervention based on the consumption of mono-specific or mixed IgY formulations. With recent trends in consumer preference for natural materials to alleviate health concerns, the increasing healthcare costs and the recent advances in drug delivery systems, IgY is likely to shift from its mainly functional food status toward pharmaceuticalization in the foreseeable future.

Chicken Egg Yolk Antibodies (IgY) for Prophylaxis and Treatment of Rotavirus Diarrhea in Human and Animal Neonates: A Concise Review

“…These properties of IgY have paved the way for its utilization as an anti-infectious agent within the mammalian gut. As such, IgY has been customized to serve as immunologic sentinels against an array of harmful alimentary pathogens including viruses, fungi and bacteria (Müller et al , 2004; Rahman et al , 2013a). …”

“…Some advantages of IgY relative to antibiotics (Rahman et al , 2013 a ) include the following: 1) It is natural, 2) It is safe and is not absorbed into the body circulation (no toxic tissue residues), 3) It avoids environmental contamination with synthetic chemical drugs, 4) It does not induce specific pathogenic microorganisms resistance since it is directed to multi epitopics antigenic targets which need multiple genes for their synthesis. 5) It is highly specific in its reactivity and controls only targeted pathogens without affecting normal bacterial flora, 6) It has a potentially broad spectrum of specificity when customized against viruses, bacteria or fungi, and 7) It does not induce adverse side effects unlike synthetic drugs.…”

Electrochemical Immunosensor for Detection of IgY in Food and Food Supplements

“…Its function is similar to mammalian IgG, providing immunity to the chicks. Concerning the structure, IgY is more similar to mammalian IgE, since the Hinge region is not present in its molecular structure [2]. IgY is composed of two heavy chains (M w = 68 kDa) and two light chains (M w = 27 kDa), resulting in a molecular weight of around 190 kDa [3].…”

“…Among all of them, the most promising use of IgY is in immunotherapy, as shown by the many reviews and articles recently published covering this subject [2][3][4][5]; for example, IgY can protect humans and mammalians against animal diseases caused by virus or bacteria attacks. For these purposes, IgY can be added to many foods, both for cattle and humans (kids and adults), to improve the immunological properties of aliments.…”

“…Moreover, it can be easily purified from egg yolk and its production is low cost and fast. IgY from hen egg yolk is a great resource in the field of primary and secondary antibodies research and development, especially because the cross-reactivity with mammalian complement system is very low or totally absent [2].…”