Evaluation of anti-PAIIL lectin hen yolk antibody as an agent inhibiting Pseudomonasaeruginosa adherence to epithelial cells

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. Graphical abstract