Production and characterization of anti-Campylobacter jejuni IgY derived from egg yolks

Abstract

Background Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of foodborne disease having chickens as an important reservoir. Its control at the farm would lower the contamination of the final products and therefore also lower the risk of transmission to humans. At the farm, C. jejuni is rarely found in chickens before they reach 2 weeks of age. Past studies have shown that maternal antibodies could hamper C. jejuni gut colonization. The objective of this study was to compare protocols to use in order to produce anti-C. jejuni antibodies derived from egg yolks in the perspective to be used as feed additives for the control of chicken C. jejuni colonization. Laying hens were naturally contaminated with four well-characterized strains or injected with either outer membrane proteins or formalin-killed whole bacteria derived from these same strains. Eggs were collected and IgYs present in the yolks were extracted. The amount and the specificity of the recovered antibodies were characterized.ResultsIt was observed that injection yielded eggs with superior concentrations of both total and anti-C. jejuni antibodies. Equivalent performances for antibodies recovered from all protocols were observed for the ability of the antibodies to agglutinate the live C. jejuni homologous strains, to hinder their motility or to lyse the bacteria. Western blot analyses showed that proteins from all strains could be recognized by all IgY extracts. All these characteristics were strain specific. The characterization assays were also made for heterologous strains and weaker results were observed when compared to the homologous strains.ConclusionsBased on these results, only an IgY quantitative based selection can be made in regards to which protocol would give the best anti-C. jejuni IgY enriched egg-yolks as all tested protocols were equivalent in terms of the recovered antibody ability to recognized the tested C. jejuni strains.

Egg yolk antibodies (IgY) and their applications in human and veterinary health: A review

“…The hens submitted to subcutaneous inoculation produced IgY more intensely, although the antibodies obtained through oral inoculation also showed good activity. Anti-C. jejuni IgY, obtained from the three ways, presented bactericidal activity in vitro [46].…”

“…The intramuscular injection into the leg must be avoided as it can lead to lameness [3]. Nonetheless, for a non-invasive method, the administration of antigen can also be performed orally [46]. The number of inoculations required depends on the type and dose of the antigen, as well as the adjuvant used.…”

How Can the Value and Use of Egg Yolk Be Increased?

“…IgY solutions can be stored for a few months to a few years with the addition of antimicrobial agents (Larsson, Bålöw, Lindahl, & Forsberg, ; Schade et al., ). IgY has attracted considerable attention as an alternative to antibiotics for growth improvement for animals in recent years (Yegani & Korver, ), but the major applications for IgY are focused on the control of enteric infections of either bacterial or viral origin such as Salmonella spp ., enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli , Campylobacter jejuni , porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus, rotavirus, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, influenza viruses, and immunodiagnostic and pathogen control of food products (Kumaran et al., ; Thibodeau, Fravalo, Perron, Laurent‐Lewandowski, & Letellier, ; Vega et al., ; Wen et al., ; Yang, Wen, Zhao, Zhang, & Zhou, ). Various other suggested uses of IgY include anti‐snake or scorpion toxins antibody to neutralize the snake or scorpion venoms, to treat drug‐resistant bacterial strains, Chagas disease, tetanus, and to cure celiac disease, rheumatism, and wheat allergy (Alvarez et al., ; da Rocha et al., ; Grando et al., ; Selim, Ibrahim, El Meshad, & Hamouda, ).…”

“…The separated proteins such as IgY and phosvitin can be used to produce bioactive peptides and used in emerging fields such as nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical areas (Thibodeau et al., ). The global bioactive ingredients market is estimated to $33.6 billion in 2018 (Rohan, ).…”

Anti-Lipopolysaccharide egg yolk antibody enhance the phagocytosis of mammalian phagocytes

“…Specific immunoglobulin Y (IgY) harvested from avians with high yield and low cost, could be used to prevent and treat infectious diseases by removing pathogenic microorganisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Helicobacter pylori , rotavirus, influenza virus and Escherichia coli ( Rahman et al, 2013 ; Yang et al, 2012 ; Zhen et al, 2011 ; Thibodeau et al, 2017 ; Hong et al, 2018 ; Thomsen et al; Shi et al, 2017 ; Pizarro-Guajardo et al, 2017 ). Therefore, IgY may have a positive role in preventing and controlling infectious diseases by enhancing the phagocytic function of mammalian macrophages to remove pathogenic bacteria effectively.…”