Generation and characterization of egg yolk antibodies specific for LPS and lipid A - 1. Report: Induction and preparation of endotoxin-specific egg yolk antibodies

The immunisation of mammals with LPS-and lipid A-antigens leads to the production of specific antibodies. In the present study, we describe the generation and preparation of antibodies from egg yolks of immunized chickens. Egg yolk antibodies were raised by immunizing laying hens with five LPS-and three lipid A-preparations from various gram-negative bacteria species in different immunisation protocols. Antibodies from collected egg yolks were extracted and purified by means of several standard methods. The purity of antibody-preparations was measured and compared by SDS-PAGE. Specific antibodies were assayed by two different EIA procedures. It could be shown that the immunisation of hens with LPS-and lipid A-Antigens resulted in the production of specific egg yolk antibodies, regardless of immunisation-scheme and amount of antigen.