As a hen lays about 300 eggs a year, you can get a lot of IgY, Gallardo said.
Available in other languages:
Content available at:
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have been able to produce antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in hen eggs. Antibodies harvested from eggs might be used to treat COVID-19 or as a preventative measure for people exposed to the disease. The work was published July 9 in the journal Viruses.
“The beauty of the system is that you can produce a lot of antibodies in birds,” said Rodrigo Gallardo, professor in poultry Medicine, Department of Population Health and Reproduction at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “In addition to a low cost to produce these antibodies in hens, they can be updated very fast by using updated antigens to hyperimmunize hens, allowing protection against current variant strains.”
Birds produce a type of antibody called IgY, comparable to IgG in humans and other mammals.
As a hen lays about 300 eggs a year, you can get a lot of IgY, Gallardo said.
Gallardo and colleagues immunized hens with two doses of three different vaccines based on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein or receptor binding domain. They measured antibodies in blood samples from the hens and egg yolks three and six weeks after the last immunization.
Purified antibodies were tested for their ability to block coronavirus from infecting human cells at the National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases at George Mason University in Virginia.
Both eggs and sera from immunized hens contained antibodies that recognized SARS-CoV-2. Antibodies from serum were more effective in neutralizing the virus, probably because there is more antibody in blood overall, Gallardo said.
Gallardo is working with
Subscribe now to the poultry technical magazine
AUTHORS
Newcastle Disease: One Hundred Years On, Why Transmission Control Matters More Than Ever
Mustafa Seckin Sandikli
Egg Size Versatility in Nick Chick – Part I
H&N Technical Department
Interview with Khaled Abdel Nasser Awwad
Khaled Abdel Nasser Awwad
When the Supply Chain Breaks: Poultry Prices and the Economics of Maritime Disruption in the Middle East
Dima Chatila
Reovirus Infections in the Broiler Industry
Edgar O. Oviedo Rondón
Egg Condensation in Hatcheries: A Hidden Risk for Embryo Development, Hatchability and Chick Quality
Rasel Ahmed
From Chat to Farm Insight: Bridging the Social Data Gap in Indonesian Broiler Farming
Setiawan Guntarto
Labor Shortage in the Poultry Industry: Potential Solutions
Edgar O. Oviedo Rondón
A Comparison of Soybean Meal from Different Origins in Terms of Nutrient Composition, Amino Acid Profile, and Protein Quality
Güner GÖVENÇ
When Algorithms Start to Control Feed Composition
Henri E. Prasetyo DVM. M.Vsc
