Chicken egg yolk antibodies (IgY)-based antivenom for neutralization of snake venoms: a review

Use of adjuvant ISA VG 71 to produce neutralizing egg yolk antibodies against bothropic venom

“…Avidity analysis of the egg extracts revealed that the indexes increased with the number of immunizations. Similarly, other authors have also reported the maturation of the IgY response against different antigens such as venoms (Choraria et al 2021), inactivated pathogens (Sampaio et al 2014) and synthetic peptides (Walczak et al 2015) throughout the immunization period. Interestingly, after the same number of injections, no significant differences in the avidity of the egg extracts were found for any of the evaluated immunomodulators.…”

IgY Antibodies as Biotherapeutics in Biomedicine

“…The available data come from animal models with the application of sublethal doses of xenogeneic snake venom [ 60 ]. In these studies, IgY was shown to have a wide and rapid distribution in the animal body, including muscles and brain parenchyma [ 61 ]. The main route of elimination was hepatobiliary (fecal).…”

“…Similarly, the entry of IgY into the brain across the blood–brain barrier was demonstrated, and it could neutralize the poison and act as an antivenom. The IgY antibodies specifically recognized the venom and as previously mentioned, did not activate the complement system, suggesting the possibility of safe re-administration until the resolution of intoxication symptoms in animals not developing ADE [ 60 , 61 ]. Since oral administration of IgY in humans has been shown to be effective and without side-effects, its parenteral administration needs further investigation to determine its safety, tolerability, and efficacy [ 62 , 63 , 64 ].…”