Effectivity of Alternative Adjuvants in Comparison to Freund's Complete Adjuvant.

In order to replace the use of mammals for the production of hyperimmune sera and to replace Freund"s complete adjuvant (FCA) with its undesirable side effects, the production and immunological features of IgY were investigated systematically. An important advantage of IgY is that large amounts can easily be extracted from the yolk of immunized laying hens. With special regard to animal welfare, several biocompatible adjuvants (ABM system, Gerbu adjuvant, TiterMax) were tested with FCA for their usage and effectiveness in the immunization of chickens. Under appropriate immunization schedules which strictly avoid intramuscular administration, IgY antibodies with very high titers and a strong binding capacity (avidity) comparable to rabbit hyperimmune sera can be obtained with minimal adjuvant side effects.