Bovine mastitis is an inflammatory disease of the mammary gland that requires antibiotics replacing it due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The present paper tested the therapeutic effect of chicken egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY), in the treatment of Escherichia coli induced mastitis in a mouse model. The hens were the White Leghorn that was immunized with E. coli isolated in cases of mastitis. IgY against E. coli was extracted out of egg yolks with a peak concentration of 42.06 2.02mg/ml being reached on day 160. ELISA presented a very high specific antibody titer of 1: 50,000. The concentration of IgY 40.00 mg/ml showed bacteriostatic activity against E. coli that was equal to chloramphenicol. In vivo, treatment with intramammary IgY had a great impact in reducing the severity of the infection, bacterial load, and inflammation in infected mice. The dose of 200.00 mg/mouse provided the optimal therapeutic effect and tissue integrity was recovered. Such findings show that anti-E. coli IgY is an effective antibacterial and immunotherapeutic agent, which makes it a promising and residue free, biotherapeutic substitute to manage mastitis in a sustainable condition and prevent antimicrobial resistance in dairy production.
