What is IgY?
Ig is a type of Immunoglobulin. IgY (Immunoglobulin-Y) is the most common type of immunoglobulin produced by the B cells in birds, reptiles and amphibians, and has a long history of being used as passive immunity therapeutic agents in humans and animals. Chicken (hen) IgY has been, and continues to be the most widely studied.
Similarly to human IgG, IgY is produced at high concentrations in serum, and accumulates in high concentrations in egg yolk to provide offspring with effective humoral immunity. High concentrations of antibodies making them ideal source for a variety of human and animal health applications. Clinical evidence demonstrates that when consumed, they are not rejected by the human immune system and the antibodies remain in the digestive tract.
Science and Research
IgY is well supported by a growing body of research for health applications.
The scientific community has long known the potential of IgY antibodies for health applications and continues to gain momentum in life sciences fields. A search for IgY in the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Library of Medicine, pubmed.gov will display more than 1,500 search results. A review of these studies will demonstrate IgY antibody’s ability to prevent or cure disease in humans and in animal as well, demonstrated potential for applications in diagnostic tests or protein purification processes.
Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) has an equivalent
functional role to both mammalian IgG and IgE
Similar to IgG, avian IgY mediates general protective immune responses and it also mediates
the anaphylactic response typically associated with mammalian IgE.*