Capotă Robert, Ciaușu-Sliwa Dana, Bostănaru-Iliescu Andra-Cristina, Năstasă Valentin, Mareș Mihai
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, "Ion Ionescu de la Brad" Iasi University of Life Sciences, 700490 Iasi, Romania.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jul 2;26(13):6380. doi: 10.3390/ijms26136380.
Immunoglobulin Y (IgY), the major antibody class in birds, has gained increasing attention in recent years as a versatile and ethically sustainable alternative to mammalian immunoglobulins. IgY has demonstrated strong potential in diagnostics, prophylaxis, and therapy across a wide range of fields, including infectious diseases, allergy management, oral health, and food safety. Its applications in animal health-particularly in poultry, livestock, and companion animals-further underscore its relevance within the One Health framework. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of IgY technology, starting with its physiological role in maternal immunity and the structural characteristics that distinguish it from mammalian immunoglobulin G (IgG). This review outlines current strategies for IgY production and purification. It also provides an overview of its biomedical and veterinary applications, including its use in diagnostics, prevention, and treatment-such as for SARS-CoV-2-primarily based on studies published in the past five years. The final section addresses the current limitations of IgY technology, such as variability in protocols, stability challenges, and the need for safety assessment, while highlighting the importance of harmonized guidelines to support broader implementation. With growing scientific interest, expanding clinical research, and increasing availability of commercial products, IgY is well positioned to become a valuable immunobiological tool for both human and veterinary applications.
免疫球蛋白Y（IgY）是鸟类中的主要抗体类别，近年来作为哺乳动物免疫球蛋白的一种多功能且符合伦理道德的可持续替代品，受到了越来越多的关注。IgY在包括传染病、过敏管理、口腔健康和食品安全在内的广泛领域的诊断、预防和治疗中显示出强大的潜力。它在动物健康领域的应用——特别是在家禽、家畜和伴侣动物中——进一步凸显了其在“同一健康”框架内的相关性。本综述全面综合了IgY技术，首先介绍了其在母源免疫中的生理作用以及使其有别于哺乳动物免疫球蛋白G（IgG）的结构特征。本综述概述了当前IgY的生产和纯化策略。它还概述了其生物医学和兽医应用，包括其在诊断、预防和治疗中的应用——例如针对严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）——主要基于过去五年发表的研究。最后一部分讨论了IgY技术目前的局限性，如方案的可变性、稳定性挑战以及安全评估的必要性，同时强调了统一指南对支持更广泛应用的重要性。随着科学兴趣的增加、临床研究的扩展以及商业产品的可用性提高，IgY有望成为一种对人类和兽医应用都有价值的免疫生物学工具。
