U.S. researchers have used a new method to get eggs laid by hens to produce antibodies against the stinging protein of the New Coronavirus, PhysicoTribune.com reported on 13 June. The study suggests that the antibodies extracted from the eggs are expected to be used to treat New Coronavirus pneumonia or as a preventive measure for people who are vulnerable to exposure to the virus. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Virus.
Rodrigo Gallardo, head of the study and professor of poultry medicine in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, said, “The advantage of this system is that a large number of antibodies can be produced in birds. It is less expensive to produce these antibodies in hens and, by hyper-immunizing hens with newer antigens, the antibodies can be renewed very quickly in response to new coronavirus mutant strains.”
Birds produce an antibody called IgY, similar to IgG in humans and other mammals. when injected into humans, IgY does not cause allergy but triggers an immune response. IgY appears in the bird’s serum and eggs. A hen lays 300 eggs a year, and we can get a lot of IgY, Gallardo said.
Gallardo and colleagues immunized hens with two doses of three different vaccines based on the neocoronavirus stinger protein or receptor-binding domain, and measured antibodies in blood samples and egg yolks of the hens three and six weeks after the last immunization. Scientists from George Mason University’s National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases then tested the ability of the purified antibodies to block coronavirus infection of human cells.
The results showed that both eggs and serum from immunized chickens contained antibodies that recognized the new coronavirus. Galado explained that the antibodies from the serum were more effective in neutralizing the virus, probably because there were more antibodies in the blood in general.
Gallardo is working with scientists from Stanford University and the University of Technology, Sydney, to develop egg-based antibody technology. The team hopes to use these antibodies in preventive treatments, such as sprays, for people at high risk of exposure to the new coronavirus.
