Hen yolk antibody (IgY) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) virulence factor, lectin PAIIL, was prepared from two hens. As judged from ELISA, both animals produced equally reactive anti-PAIIL antibodies.
The IgY prophylaxis against adhesion of PA on epithelium cell lines derived from normal or cystic fibrosis (CF) human lungs was examined. Both anti-PAIIL antibodies comparably prevented PA adherence on epithelial cells.
In accordance with clinical data, cells from CF patient showed higher susceptibility to PA binding compared to cells of a healthy subject. In additional experiments, a luminescent PA strain (PA-lux) was used in the PA adhesion assay instead of an originally used regular PA strain (ST 1763).
The employment of PA-lux in the assay is advantageous since the bacteria do not need to be fluorescently labeled for their quantification. The application of both non-luminescent PA (ST 1763) and newly tested PA-lux strains provides consistent results as far as the anti-PAIIL IgY protection against of PA adherence is concerned.
Furthermore, in lung epithelium adherence assay we examined also other PA strains for their sensitivity to anti-PAIIL antibody. The adherence of all PA strains tested was reduced by anti-PAIIL antibody when compared with un-affected controls.
This finding suggests a wide applicability of anti-PAIIL antibody in prophylaxis of PA lung infections.