IgY antibodies for the immunoprophylaxis and therapy of respiratory infections

Figures & data

Figure 1. Structural comparison between mammalian IgG and avian IgY.

Figure 2. Mode of action of Anti- Pseudomonas aeruginosa IgY from immunized chicken for protection of respiratory tract of cystic fibrosis patients. A) IgY binds to flagella of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa and inhibits the bacterial adhesion. B) IgY opsonization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa augments the PMN-mediated respiratory burst and subsequent bacterial elimination.

Table 1. Summary of studies performed to evaluate the efficacy of IgY antibodies against respiratory pathogens.

Pathogen/antigen	in vitro/in vivo study	Human/animal model	Mode of IgY delivery	Effects of IgY	Reference
Influenza Virus
H1N1	in vivo	Mice	intranasal once a day for 4 days post-infection or 2 h prior to infection and once a day for four days post-infection	Protection against the virus by reducing the infectious titer of the virus in the lung comparable to that of the neuraminidase inhibitor	95
influenza B virus	in vivo	Mice	intranasal 2h before infection or 2, 26, 50, and 74 h post-infection.	reducing viral replication in the lungs	43
H1N1, H3N2, and H5N1	in vivo	Mice	Intranasal administration of H5N1-specific IgYs 1 hour prior to infection Intranasal before and after lethal infection with H5N1 and H5N2	100% protection against lethal challenge with H5N1and protect against A/Puerto Rico/8/34 H1N1 Complete recover of the infection	44
H5N1, H1N1	in vivo	Mice	Intranasal before or after lethal infection	Prevent the infection or significantly reduce viral replication resulting in complete recovery from the disease in mice	96
A/H1N1 2009	In vitro			Inhibit the cytopathological effects of H1N1	97
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
	In vitro			IgY opsonization augments the PMN-mediated respiratory burst and subsequent bacterial elimination	66
	In vitro			Bind to the P. aeruginosa protein flagellin reducing the adherence of the bacteria to host cells of CF patients	110
	in vivo	Mice	Intranasal 1hour before or 6 hours after infection	Significant reduction of bacterial load and inflammatory cytokines	18
	in vivo	human	Oral administration for more than 14 years	Decrease or prevent colonization	87,104,111
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)	In vitro			IgY antibody was able to neutralize the SARS coronavirus	80
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB)	In vitro			Specific IgY against TB increased starting 2 weeks after first immunization and persist 200 days after last immunization	120
Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV)	In vitro			Purified IgY preparations, obtained from hens immunized with BRSV, neutralized BRSV in vitro	125