IgY antibodies for the immunoprophylaxis and therapy of respiratory infections

Abbas, Aymn Talat; El-Kafrawy, Sherif Aly; Sohrab, Sayed Sartaj; Azhar, Esam Ibraheem Ahmed

emic situation. Passive immunization has the potential to deliver prophylactic as well as therapeutic effects. 12 Chicken IgYs have been tested for their use as passive immunotherapeutic or prophylactic agents against influenza viruses. Yang et al 94 produced large quantities of egg yolk IgYs (9.18 mg/mL egg yolk) after 8 weeks immunization with an inactivated H1N1 virus. Hemagglutination inhibition and Western blotting assays showed the specific binding of the IgY antibodies that were produced to the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase of H1N1. Plaque reduction assays showed the reduction of H1N1 infection by IgY antibodies. In vivo studies in a mouse model showed that the anti-H1N1 IgYs provided protection against the virus by reducing the infectious titer of the virus in the lung, with no changes to the normal structure and weight of the mouse lung tissue. Besides the antiviral effect of the anti-H1N1 IgYs, the researchers also showed a protective effect comparable to that of the neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir. These results indicate that IgYs can provide a highly effective alternative approach for the treatment of influenza (Table 1) .