The importance of the human intestinal flora is only just beginning to be recognized as a factor in both intestinal and extraintestinal health.
Conditions as common as irritable bowel syndrome, and as deadly as atherosclerosis, are gradually being understood to be associated with specific patterns of gut flora.
TAMING THE INTESTINAL FLORA
THREATS TO THE INTEGRITY AND DIVERSITY
OF THE GUT MICROBIOME ARE WIDESPREAD:
Overuse of antibiotics, high-fat, low-fiber diets, environmental toxins, and other factors are implicated in systematic disturbances of the GI microenvironment (dysbiosis). These facts make it increasingly important to understand and safely intervene to restore balance and desirable biodiversity to the intestinal microbiome.
UNDERSTANDING HYPERIMMUNE EGG TECHNOLOGY
Eggs have always been an important part of the human diet. Now, in the form of IgY from hyperimmune eggs, specialized eggs enriched with immunoglobulins provide a new approach to therapeutics.
INTRODUCING IGY FROM HYPERIMMUNE EGGS
A single laying hen can be simultaneously immunized against multiple bacteria known to be present in disordered amounts in human intestinal and extraintestinal disease.
The resulting avian immunoglobulins, known as IgY, are transferred to the egg yolk, analogously to the way human immunoglobulins (IgG) pass across the placenta. IgY is then harvested in large quantities simply by gathering eggs and spray-drying them at low temperatures, producing a polyvalent immunoglobulin-rich dried egg food product.
IgY from hyperimmune eggs has been shown to survive passage through the stomach and upper GI tract, allowing it to bind to its target organisms in the hindgut.
Additionally, IgY from hyperimmune eggs, unlike immunoglobulins of mammalian origin, cannot bind to human Fc receptors to activate the complement cascade, making them incapable of producing an undesirable inflammatory response.
WHAT YOU'LL FIND HERE
This website provides details of numerous studies demonstrating that IgY from hyperimmune eggs provides passive immunity against a number of human pathogens, including Salmonella, enterotoxigenic E. coli, H. pylori, and many others. There are indications that this product may mitigate symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome as well.
Of equal or greater importance, however, is the fact that IgY from hyperimmune eggs is showing promise in managing extraintestinal disorders, now including the modification of risk factors for atherosclerosis, reduction of inflammation in arthritis, improvement in quality of life among HIV/AIDS victims, and for prevention of colonization and re-infection with Pseudomonas in patients with cystic fibrosis.