Abstract
BackgroundIgY antibodies are serum immunoglobulin in birds, reptiles and amphibians, and are transferred from serum to egg yolk to confer passive immunity to their embryos and offspring. Currently, the oral passive immunization using chicken IgY has been focused as an alternative to antibiotics for the treatment and control of diarrhea in animals and humans. This systematic review was focused to determine the effect of IgY in controlling and preventing diarrhea in domesticated animals including Piglets, Mice, Poultry and Calves.Methods and ResultsPrevious research reports focused on treatment effect of Chicken IgY against diarrhea were retrieved from different electronic data bases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, SPRINGER-LINK, WILEY, AGRICOLA, MEDWELL Journals, Scientific Publish, Chinese articles from Core periodicals in 2012). A total of 61 studies in 4 different animal classes met the inclusion criteria. Data on study characteristics and outcome measures were extracted. The pooled relative risk (RR) of 49 studies of different animals [Piglets – 22; Mice – 14; Poultry – 7 and Calves – 6] in meta-analyses revealed that, IgY significantly reduced the risk of diarrhea in treatment group when compare to the placebo. However, the 95% confidence intervals of the majority of studies in animal class piglets and calves embrace RR of one. The same results were obtained in sub group analyses (treatment regiment – prophylactic or therapeutic; pathogen type – bacterial or viral). Perhaps, this inconsistency in the effect of IgY at the individual study level and overall effect measures could be influenced by the methodological heterogeneity.ConclusionThe present systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis demonstrated the beneficial effect of IgY. This supports the opinion that IgY is useful for prophylaxis and treatment. However, more intensive studies using the gold standard animal experiments with the focus to use IgY alone or in combination with other alternative strategies are indispensable.
Highlights
In a common way antibiotics have been used in animal agriculture for growth promotion, disease prevention and for the treatment for more than 50 years and many of the research reports and practical experiences have shown the usage of antibiotic to significantly contribute for the improved performance of animals [1,2]
Oral administration of specific chicken IgY has been shown to be effective against a variety of intestinal pathogens especially diarrheal pathogens in different animal classes and humans such as bovine and human rotaviruses, bovine coronavirus, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and Salmonella
Some of the studies mentioned, that IgY administration started before challenging with pathogen whereas in some trials it was after the onset of diarrhea
Summary
In a common way antibiotics have been used in animal agriculture for growth promotion (sub-therapeutic doses), disease prevention (prophylactic doses) and for the treatment (therapeutic dose) for more than 50 years and many of the research reports and practical experiences have shown the usage of antibiotic to significantly contribute for the improved performance of animals [1,2]. The beneficial effects of chicken IgY in controlling or preventing the diarrheal disease in animals have been known for more than two decades and reported by many researchers globally, it still remains a difficult task to use chicken IgY as an alternative to conventional treatment with strong scientific conclusion. At this juncture, a meta-analysis is necessary and helpful to summarize the previous research findings and provide a comprehensive conclusion and proper direction for further research. This systematic review was focused to determine the effect of IgY in controlling and preventing diarrhea in domesticated animals including Piglets, Mice, Poultry and Calves
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