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

Abstract

The rotavirus-induced diarrhea of human and animal neonates is a major public health concern worldwide. Until recently, no effective therapy is available to specifically inactivate the rotavirion particles within the gut. Passive immunotherapy by oral administration of chicken egg yolk antibody (IgY) has emerged of late as a fresh alternative strategy to control infectious diseases of the alimentary tract and has been applied in the treatment of diarrhea due to rotavirus infection. The purpose of this concise review is to evaluate evidence on the properties and performance of anti-rotavirus immunoglobulin Y (IgY) for prevention and treatment of rotavirus diarrhea in human and animal neonates. A survey of relevant anti-rotavirus IgY basic studies and clinical trials among neonatal animals (since 1994-2015) and humans (since 1982-2015) have been reviewed and briefly summarized. Our analysis of a number of rotavirus investigations involving animal and human clinical trials revealed that anti-rotavirus IgY significantly reduced the severity of clinical manifestation of diarrhea among IgY-treated subjects relative to a corresponding control or placebo group. The accumulated information as a whole depicts oral IgY to be a safe and efficacious option for treatment of rotavirus diarrhea in neonates. There is however a clear need for more randomized, placebo controlled and double-blind trials with bigger sample size to further solidify and confirm claims of efficacy and safety in controlling diarrhea caused by rotavirus infection especially among human infants with health issues such as low birth weights or compromised immunity in whom it is most needed.

IgY antibodies for the immunoprophylaxis and therapy of respiratory infections

“…IgYs cause agglutination of pathogens (virus, bacterial, fungal), leading to their immobilization, which facilitates their removal from the gut. 61…”

“…Further, they can be stored for months in powder form at low moisture without the need for refrigeration, and they are cheaper and faster to produce than vaccines. 61 Use of IgY antibodies also has general advantages in the context of immunotherapy. Egg collection is pain-free and animal friendly, which is beneficial from the perspective of animal welfare.…”

Effect of chicken egg yolk immunoglobulins on serum biochemical profiles and intestinal bacterial populations in early‐weaned piglets

“…IgY is resistant against specific pathogens based on the antigen the hens are immunized against. It has been shown to be effective against a variety of intestinal pathogens particularly diarrhoea pathogens such as bovine and human rotaviruses, bovine coronavirus, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and Salmonella (Diraviyam et al, 2014;Muller et al, 2015;Sui et al, 2011;Thu et al, 2017;Xu et al, 2011). IgY has attracted considerable interest as an alternative to antibiotics for the control of infectious diseases in the alimentary tract (Li, Wang, Zhen, Li, & Xu, 2015).…”

Enterovirus type 71‑immunized chicken egg yolk immunoglobulin has cross antiviral activity against coxsackievirus A16 in�vitro

“…Compared with the IgG from mammals, IgY is more stable (30,31), easy to collect (32), has a high yield (33) and does not react with rheumatoid factors, complement components or mammalian Fc receptors in human serum (34). At present, the application of IgY in the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases has become a research hotspot, particularly regarding infections caused by Helicobacter pylori (35), Vibrio cholerae (36) and other bacterial infections, as well as the infections by human rotavirus (37), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (38) and other viruses. IgY can also be used for the preparation of diagnostic antibodies for immunohistochemistry, ELISA (39), western blotting and other diagnostic techniques.…”