Anti-Cholesterolemic Egg, Vaccine And Method For Production, And Use

The invention is based on the inventors' discovery that eggs and egg products obtained from hyperimmunized chickens, when fed to a warm-blooded animal, provide a method for the control of lipid deposits and cholesterol levels in the animal.

The present invention is based on the discovery that the ingestion of eggs or fractions from avians hyperimmunized against specific bacterial strains could achieve the following results:

1. lower the levels of lipid deposits in the aorta compared to levels found in animals not ingesting any eggs;

2. not increase the levels of lipid deposits in tie aorta or liver above the levels found in animals not ingesting eggs;

3. not elevate the levels of lipid deposits in aorta or liver to those levels found in animals ingesting equivalent amounts of untreated eggs;

4. not elevate the levels of serum cholesterol to those levels found in animals ingesting equivalent amounts of untreated eggs.

The present invention is also based on the inventors' discovery that serum cholesterol can be lowered in warm-blooded animals consuming a high-cholesterol diet by the ingestion of eggs or egg fractions from hyperimmunized avians. The fractions include egg yolk, egg yolk protein, primarily IgY, and egg white.

The present invention is further based on the discovery that the development and degree of severity of atheromatous lesions in the aorta and coronary arteries of warm-blooded animals ingesting a high-cholesterol diet, including eggs, could be controlled beneficially by the consumption of eggs or egg fractions produced in hyperimmunized avians. The fractions include egg yolks, egg yolk protein, primarily IgY, and egg white.

The present invention is also based on the discovery that the anti-lipid, anti-cholesterol, anti-arteriosclerotic effects described above could be obtained with eggs produced from chickens hyperimmunized with specific bacterial antigens or specific groups of bacterial antigens.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to produce avian eggs, egg products, and egg fractions which, when consumed by humans and other warm-blooded animals, will lower cholesterol and lipids in warm-blooded animals ingesting these eggs or egg fractions.

It is a further object of the invention to provide avian eggs or egg fractions which, when consumed by humans and other warm-blooded animals, will not increase the levels of cholesterol or lipids in animals ingesting these eggs or egg fractions.

It is also an object of the invention to provide avian eggs or egg fractions which will not increase the levels of cholesterol or lipids to those levels found in animals consuming equivalent amounts of normal eggs.

It is a further object of the invention to provide avian eggs and egg fractions having beneficial effects upon disorders of the vascular system, especially atherosclerosis and the development of atheromatous lesions.

Accordingly, a further object of the invention is to provide a method for treating vascular disorders in humans and other warm blooded animals by controlling cholesterol and lipid deposits, such that disease symptoms, such as atheromatous lesions, are prevented or ameliorated.

It is a further object of the invention to control cholesterol levels and the development of arteriosclerosis in animals on a high-cholesterol diet.

Accordingly, the invention generally provides methods for preventing or treating vascular disorders in humans and other warm blooded animals which comprises administering eggs, egg products, or egg fractions derived from avians maintained in a hyperimmune state in an amount sufficient to produce anti-arteriosclerotic, and particularly anti-atherosclerotic effects.

The invention specifically provides a method for preventing or treating vascular disorders in humans and other warm-blooded animals by controlling the levels of cholesterol, and especially serum cholesterol, and lipid deposits in the organs and tissues of said animals by the administration of eggs, egg fractions, or egg products from hyperimmunized avians.

The invention specifically provides avian eggs, fractions, and egg products which, when consumed by a warm-blooded animal, lowers cholesterol or lipid deposits in that animal.

The present invention also specifically provides avian eggs, fractions, and egg products which, when consumed by an animal, do not elevate the levels of lipid deposits in the animal.

The present invention further specifically provides avian eggs, fractions, and egg products which, when consumed by an animal, do not elevate the levels of lipids and serum cholesterol to those levels found in animals ingesting equivalent amounts of normal untreated eggs.

The invention also specifically provides avian eggs, fractions, and egg products which, when consumed by a warm-blooded animal on a high-cholesterol diet, significantly lowers the serum cholesterol levels in the animals.

The invention also specifically provides avian eggs, fractions, and egg products which, when consumed by a warm-blooded animal ingesting a high-cholesterol diet and further ingesting normal untreated eggs, significantly lowers serum cholesterol levels from those levels found in animals consuming a high-cholesterol diet and equivalent amounts of normal untreated eggs.

The invention also specifically provides avian eggs, fractions, and egg products which, upon consumption by an animal on a high-holesterol diet and further consuming untreated eggs, markedly reduces the percentage of ather-omatous lesions in the animal compared to the percent found in animals on a high-cholesterol diet and consuming equivalent amounts of normal untreated eggs.

The invention further provides avian eggs, fractions, and egg products which, upon consumption by a warm-blooded animal, reduces the degree of severity of atheromatous lesions developed in an animal on a high-cholesterol diet and also consuming normal untreated eggs.

The invention further specifically provides avian eggs, fractions, and egg products which, upon consumption by a warm-blooded animal, on a normal diet or on a high-cholesterol diet, reduce the degree of severity of atheromatous lesions developed in the coronary arteries of these animals.

The present invention also provides methods of producing the eggs or egg products having the beneficial results summarized above. The methods encompass the hyperimmunization of female avians with specific bacterial antigens and subgroups of antigens.

Accordingly, the present invention also provides vaccines comprising bacterial antigens and subgroups of bacterial antigens which, when used to hyperimmunize female egg-laying avians, provide the objects of the present invention.

The present invention also provides various fractions produced from eggs that are derived from hyperimmunized avians and which provide the objects of the present invention when ingested by a warm-blooded animal. The fractions include the egg white, egg yolk, and a purified immunoglobulin-containing fraction from the egg yolk.