Egg Yolk Antibodies for Disease Prevention

The general structure of the egg yolk antibody, containing of two light and two heavy chains, is comparable to that of mammalian immunoglobulins. Oral administration of specific egg yolk antibody is an attractive approach against gastrointestinal infection in humans and animals. The use of IgY as antibiotic-alternative therapy have advantages: (1) The production of IgY is a non-invasive and inexpensive method; (2) Handling of animal is easy; (3) Don’t need to bleeding of laboratory animals;(4) A laying hen is able to produce more than 20 g of IgY per year; (5) Eggs are normal dietary components and there is no risk of toxic side effects of IgY. The increasing number of antibiotic resistant bacteria confirm the need to find alternative to antibiotics such as IgY. Yolk antibodies have been shown in several studies to prevent bacterial and viral infections. The example of a successful prophylactic use of IgY is the treatment of diseases with specific IgY antibodies against Escherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori, Salmonella spp, Streptococcus mutans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, rotavirus and coronavirus.