Preclinical Evaluation of Chicken Egg Yolk Antibody (IgY) Anti-RBD Spike SARS-CoV-2—A Candidate for Passive Immunization against COVID-19

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a substantial threat to the international health sector and the global economy. As of 26 December 2021, the number of mortalities resulting from COVID-19 exceeded 5.3 million worldwide. The absence of an effective non-vaccine treatment has prompted the quest for prophylactic agents that can be used to combat COVID-19. This study presents the feasibility of chicken egg yolk antibody (IgY) anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) spike SARS-CoV-2 as a strong candidate to neutralize the virus for application in passive immunization. For the purpose of preclinical studies, we radiolabeled IgY anti-RBD spike SARS-CoV-2 with radionuclide iodine-131. This allowed us to evaluate several biological characteristics of IgY in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo. The preclinical data suggest that IgY anti-RBD spike SARS-CoV-2 could specifically bind to the SARS-CoV-2 antigens; however, little uptake was observed in normal cells (MRC-5) (<2%). Furthermore, the ex vivo biodistribution study revealed that IgY predominantly accumulated in the trachea of normal mice compared to other organs. We also found that IgY possessed a good safety profile when used as an intranasal agent. Taken together, we propose that IgY anti-RBD spike SARS-CoV-2 has the potential for application in passive immunization against COVID-19.