The researchers at the University of California, Davis, have been able to produce an immune response to the spikeprotein in hen eggs. Antibodies from eggs can be used to treat or prevent the disease. The paper was published in the journal Viruses.
The beauty of the system is that you can make a lot of antibodies in birds. 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.
Humans and other mammals have the same type of antibodies produced by birds. IgY doesn't cause allergic reactions in humans. Birds have IgY in their eggs. You can get a lot of IgY if you have 300 eggs a year.
Chickens were immunized with two different vaccines based on the SARS-CoV-2 spikeprotein. Three and six weeks after the last immunization, they collected blood and egg yolks from the hens.
At the National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases at George Mason University, Purified Antibodies were tested to see if they could block coronaviruses.
Eggs and sera from hens that had been vaccined contained anti-SRS-CoV-2 antibodies. Antibodies from the blood were more effective than those from the salivary Tract.
The egg-based antibody technology is being developed by Gallardo and two other people. The team wants to use these antibodies in a spray that could be used by people at high risk of exposure to coronaviruses.
More information: Emily J. Aston et al, Hyperimmunized Chickens Produce Neutralizing Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, Viruses (2022). DOI: 10.3390/v14071510
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