Department of Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury, ul. Oczapowskiego 13/14, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland.
Poult Sci. 2019 Aug 1;98(8):3150-3157. doi: 10.3382/ps/pez126.
Immunoglobulins, which are passed vertically from hens to their progeny, are first present in the eggs but with time also in the developing embryos and eventually in the serum of hatching chicks, and have protective function during embryogenesis and in the first few weeks of birds' life, before the immune system becomes fully efficient. Considering the above fact, the aim of this study was to determine total levels of IgM and IgY as well as specific IgY antibody titers against selected pathogens in the serum of breeder turkeys and their progeny, as well as in egg yolks and egg whites. Study results demonstrated that the level of IgY antibodies in the serum of turkey breeder hens reached 22.04 mg/mL on average in the whole egg laying cycle. In addition, the mean transfer percentage of IgY antibodies from turkey layers to their progeny reached approximately 31.4%, but the level of this transfer differed depending on pathogen character and accounted for 33.2%, 51.9%, 45.1%, and 44.3% in the case of antibodies against avian metapneumoviruses, Newcastle disease virus, Ornithobacterium rhinortacheale, and Pasteurella multocida, respectively. Antibody percentage transfer differed also as affected by the stage of the egg production cycle. Study results confirmed the earlier observed dependency concerning the class of antibodies transferred to eggs from laying hens, and while the IgY were mainly detected in the egg yolk extracts, the IgM were found only in egg white extracts; in comparison to IgY, the IgM antibodies were not transferred to the serum of turkey poults. To our best knowledge, this is the first study that describes in detail the phenomenon of maternal antibody transfer in turkeys.
免疫球蛋白从母鸡垂直传递给后代，最初存在于鸡蛋中，但随着时间的推移，也存在于发育中的胚胎中，最终存在于孵化小鸡的血清中，在胚胎发生和鸟类生命的最初几周具有保护作用，在此期间免疫系统尚未完全有效。鉴于上述事实，本研究旨在确定种鸡及其后代血清中 IgM 和 IgY 的总水平以及针对选定病原体的特异性 IgY 抗体滴度，以及蛋黄和蛋清中的 IgY 抗体。研究结果表明，在整个产蛋周期中，种鸡母鸡血清中的 IgY 抗体水平平均达到 22.04mg/mL。此外，IgY 抗体从火鸡种鸡向后代的平均转移率约为 31.4%，但这种转移率因病原体特性而异，分别为针对禽偏肺病毒、新城疫病毒、鼻疽杆菌和多杀性巴氏杆菌的抗体的 33.2%、51.9%、45.1%和 44.3%。抗体转移率也因产蛋周期的阶段而异。研究结果证实了之前观察到的与从产蛋母鸡转移到鸡蛋中的抗体类别有关的依赖性，而 IgY 主要存在于蛋黄提取物中，IgM 仅存在于蛋清提取物中；与 IgY 相比，IgM 抗体未转移到火鸡雏鸡的血清中。据我们所知，这是首次详细描述火鸡中母源抗体转移现象的研究。
