the present invention provides for pharmaceutical or nutraceutical compositions for treating patients with celiac disease , or ameliorating their symptoms . when describing the present invention , all terms not defined herein have their common art - recognized meanings . the term “ antibody ” includes polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies . avian yolk antibodies have been reported to exhibit useful properties for both research and clinical applications as mammalian antibodies do ( see , for example , u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 340 , 923 ; 5 , 585 , 098 ; 5 , 601 , 823 ; and 5 , 976 , 519 ). egg yolks derived from a laying hen is inexpensive and more convenient and safer to handle as compared to the hyperimmunized mammalian sera . more importantly , yolk antibodies are able to stand up to the scrutiny under modern animal protection regulations ( a . polson et al ., immunol . commun . 9 : 475 ( 1980 ); and b . gottstein et al .). these facts suggest a potential use of egg yolk as a commercial source of antibodies . immunoglobulin y ( igy ) is an avian immunoglobulin . as used herein , anti - gluten antibodies refers to antibody which specifically bind to at least one epitope in gluten , which may include gliadin , hmg or lmg . in one embodiment , anti - gluten antibodies comprises a cocktail of antibodies specific to different components of gluten . the therapeutic effect of the present invention is mediated by blocking glutens contained in foodstuffs before they are transported across the epithelial layer in intestines . with typical celiac disease , intact gluten is permeated into mucosal membrane without digestion . by binding to gluten with anti - gluten antibodies , gluten is passed through the intestines , rather than being transported into the mucosal membrane , thereby preventing the disease - causing toxicity . the present invention may also be beneficial for gluten - sensitive people who are essentially asymptomatic or have no gastrointestinal symptomalogy . a method of producing anti - gluten ( gliadin , hmg and lmg ) antibodies is shown schematically in fig1 . the process comprises the steps of preparing antigenic materials from wheat flour , injecting the antigenic materials into egg - laying fowl , which may include ducks or hens , and selecting the eggs containing a high titer of egg yolk antibodies . preferably , the eggs are further processed by separating the egg yolks from egg white and purifying egg yolk antibodies . the egg yolk containing antibody may be used as a food ingredient in the same manner as conventional egg yolks . for example , the egg yolk ( or whole eggs ) may be mixed with gluten free flour or normal wheat flour for making bread or be mixed with foods such as ice cream , coffee cream , mayonnaise , margarine , and salad dressing which use egg yolk as an emulsifier . furthermore , the egg yolk , or purified or partially purified fractions of the egg yolk , may be formed into pharmaceutical or nutraceutical formulations for treating patients with celiac disease . gluten proteins may be prepared from wheat flour as described by verbruggen et al . ( journal of cereal science , 1998 , 28 : 25 - 32 ). gliadin , hmg or lmg may each be isolated from wheat flour to be used as an antigenic material . it is preferable to enhance the immunogenicity of the gluten proteins by employing well - known adjuvants such as freund &# 39 ; s incomplete adjuvant or a flax oil , or other oil / water emulsions . the specific formulation of the antigenic material is not an essential element of the present invention . the antigenic preparations are injected into laying fowl , such as hens , preferably at various intervals , to induce an immune response . the hens may be injected intramuscularly or sub - cutaneously . the specific mode of injection is not an essential element of the present invention . it is well known that the igy antibodies produced by the hens in response to such an immunochallenge are transferred and concentrated in the egg yolk . once the eggs are harvested , the eggs may be further processed to isolate the egg yolk , which itself may be further processed . the liquid egg yolk may be encapsulated or otherwise used in oral dosage forms . the egg yolk may be dried by spray or refractant drying method , and the resulting dried powder may be encapsulated or otherwise used in oral dosage forms . alternatively , a procedure of partial purification or fractionation may be carried out to remove the majority of the non - aqueous bio - molecules and granules and preferably the majority of other proteins in the egg yolk . any conventional method effective to achieve such a purpose is useful in the present invention , exemplary of which includes the use of peg , dextran sulfate or a natural gum , such as sodium alginate , carrageenan and xanthan gum , to coprecipitate the undesired substances , and the use of an aqueous buffer or water to obtain an aqueous phase rich with antibodies . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the yolk is firstly separated from the egg white , and then washed with distilled water to remove as much albumen as possible . the vitelline membrane encasting the yolk is punctured , and the separated yolk fraction is then diluted with an effective amount of an aqueous buffer or water to form a suspension of the egg yolk . preferably , the collected egg yolk is diluted with an aqueous buffer solution or distilled water in a ratio of about 1 : 2 to about 1 : 40 v / v , and more preferably , in a ratio of about 1 : 5 to about 1 : 30 v / v . ph value is reported to be a critical factor during the stage of partial purification ( e . m . akita and s . nakai , j . food sci . 57 : 629 ( 1993 )). for efficient recovery of yolk antibodies , ph is preferably set within a range of about 5 - 7 . desirably , the temperature in this step is within a range of about 0 ° c . to about 60 ° c . the suspension of the egg yolk is gently agitated to form a homogenous mixture , and then allowed to stand for a period of time sufficient to form the aqueous and non - aqueous phases . the water insoluble materials , including non - aqueous bio - molecules such as lipoproteins , phospholipids , sterols and the like , are then removed from the aqueous yolk suspension by centrifugation . the resulting antibody - containing supernatant may then be separated from the viscous precipitant by decanting , suctioning , or other like methods known in the art . optionally , the yolk supernatant is further treated with a high concentration of a non - denaturing salt to induce precipitation of the antibodies . examples of the salts useful for precipitation of the yolk antibodies include but are not limited to nacl , na 2 so 4 , ( nh 4 ) 2 so 4 , kcl , cacl 2 , and mgso 4 . preferred salts include na 2 so 4 and ( nh 4 ) 2 so 4 . the salt concentration for precipitating antibodies is important and , depending on the type of the salt , is usually present in an amount of higher than 15 % and lower than 35 % by weight , preferably in a range between 20 % and 30 % by weight of the salt , on the basis of the final volume of the yolk supernatant . alternatively , the antibodies may be purified or isolated using any conventional technique such as by immunoaffinity purification . in the present invention , the compositions for treating patients with celiac disease may include formulations of egg yolk containing specific antibodies for oral administration . in particular , in addition to pharmaceutical and nutraceutical compositions , the egg yolk containing specific antibodies may be used as an ingredient in foods such as breads , dairy products , margarine , mayonnaise , dressings , sauces , or any other food product which may include eggs or egg yolks as an ingredient . the compositions may comprise dosage forms for oral administration include a formulation in which the antibodies are contained within an enteric coating that allows delivery of the active agent to the intestine . the formulations containing specific antibodies may be encapsulated in a dried form or in a liquid form , designed to resist digestion in acidic stomach conditions and to be delivered to affected areas of the intestine . the preferred effective amount of the antibody used in the preparations is about 30 mg daily , most favourably about 10 mg per meal prior to ingestion . the preparation can be used to treat patients with celiac disease by oral administration daily . the anti - gluten antibodies preferably are administered in the form of a physiologically acceptable compositions comprising physiologically acceptable carriers , excipients and / or diluents . such carriers are nontoxic to recipients at the dosages and concentrations employed . compositions suitable for in vivo administration may be formulated according to methods well - known in the art . components that are commonly employed in such formulations include those described in remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical sciences , 20th ed ., 2000 , mack publishing company . ordinarily , the preparation of such compositions entails combining the therapeutic agent with buffers , antioxidants such as ascorbic acid , low molecular weight polypeptides ( such as those having fewer than 10 amino acids ), proteins , amino acids , carbohydrates such as glucose , sucrose or dextrins , chelating agents such as edta , glutathione and other stabilizers and excipients . neutral buffered saline or saline mixed with non - specific serum albumin are exemplary appropriate diluents . if desired , the therapeutic agent may be formulated as a lyophilizate using appropriate excipient solutions such as sucrose as a diluent . appropriate dosages can be determined in standard dosing trials , and may vary according to the chosen route of administration . in accordance with appropriate industry standards , preservatives may also be added , such as benzyl alcohol . in another embodiment , an anti - gluten antibody is administered in another convenient form , such as a food or snack item . food , snack , gum or lozenge items can include any ingestible ingredient , including sweeteners , flavorings , oils , starches , proteins , fruits or fruit extracts , vegetables or vegetable extracts , grains , animal fats or proteins . thus , the present compositions can be formulated into cereals , snack items such as chips , bars , gum drops , chewable candies or slowly dissolving lozenges . the following examples are intended solely to illustrate embodiments of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention . a first group of laying hens was injected with the gliadin at a concentration of 1 . 25 mg in a mixture of saline solution ( 0 . 5 ml per hen ) and freund &# 39 ; s incomplete adjuvant or a flax oil ( 0 . 5 ml per hen ). a second group of laying hens was injected with the hmg at a concentration of 1 . 25 mg in a mixture of saline solution ( 0 . 5 ml per hen ) and freund &# 39 ; s incomplete adjuvant or a flax oil ( 0 . 5 ml per hen ). a third group of laying hens was injected with the hmg at a concentration of 1 . 25 mg in a mixture of saline solution ( 0 . 5 ml per hen ) and freund &# 39 ; s incomplete adjuvant or a flax oil ( 0 . 5 ml per hen ). a fourth group of laying hens was injected with the cocktail of gluten proteins containing gliadin ( 0 . 42 mg ), hmg ( 0 . 42 mg ) and lmg ( 0 . 42 mg ) at a concentration of 1 . 26 mg in a mixture of saline solution ( 0 . 5 ml per hen ) and fruend &# 39 ; s incomplete adjuvant or a flax oil ( 0 . 5 ml per hen ). in each case , the antigenic materials are injected into subcutaneous skin sites on the neck of laying hens . after two weeks , each group of laying hens are injected again with the same formulations as above to boost the immunity of laying hens . specific activities of igy in the egg yolk from laying hens hyperimmunized with gluten proteins were monitored by an indirect elisa during the immunization period as shown in fig2 . the specific gliadin , hmg and lmg igy activities are detected on day 0 , rapidly increase from week 2 to week 4 and thereafter remain relatively high , showing no considerable decline up to 9 weeks . the specific anti - cocktail of gluten protein igy activity also shows the similar pattern . as a result , a significant amount of igy specific against gluten proteins are obtained from egg yolks from laying hens which are fed with wheat grains in feed formulation without immunization . however , 4 - to 8 fold of specific antibodies are obtained from hyperimmunized laying hens after 4 weeks of initial immunization . as shown in fig2 , eggs containing high levels of specific igy against gluten proteins are collected during the immunization period of 5 to 8 weeks and were then pooled to determine the amount of antibodies by elisa . egg yolks containing non - specific igy were also prepared as a control . the concentrations of total and specific igy in the collected egg yolks are assessed by elisa and shown in table 1 . whole egg yolk or purified igy ( containing 240 μg igy ) was thermally treated at various temperatures ( 4 , 20 , 37 , 62 and 85 ° c .) for 30 min ( table 2 ). the antibody content in egg yolk igy decreases with increasing temperature . the residual igy content in pbs is sharply decreased by 8 %, when the igy samples are thermally treated at 85 ° c . and the treatment lasted for 30 min . however the residual igy was quite stable when thermally treated at temperature below 62 ° c . the components other than igy in the egg yolk appeared to be significantly effective in protecting the igy from thermal denaturation at 62 ° c . therefore , igy products should not be thermally exposed beyond 75 ° c . it is safe temperature region of commercial practice for egg pasteurization . whole egg yolk or purified igy ( containing 240 μg igy ) was treated at various acidic conditions ( ph 2 to 7 in pbs ) at 37 ° c . for 2 hours ( table 3 ). after incubation , the solution was neutralized by 100 fold dilutions with pbs containing 0 . 05 % tween 20 . residual igy content after various acidic treatments were concentrated by elisa . the antibody content in whole egg yolk and purified igy decreased with higher acidic conditions . the residual igy content in pbs was decreased by more than 70 %, when the igy samples were treated at ph 2 . however at higher than ph 3 , igy was relatively stable . the antibody content in egg yolk decreases with higher acidic conditions . the residual igy content in the whole egg yolk decreases by more than 70 %, when the whole egg yolk is treated at ph 2 . however the residual igy in the egg yolk is stable at over ph 3 . therefore , it appears to be important that igy should not be subjected to acidic conditions at a ph less than 3 in food processing or storage . whole egg yolk or purified igy ( containing 240 μg igy ) was diluted with 50 mm tris buffer ( ph 7 . 0 ) and then homogenized at 1 , 500 rpm for 3 min ( table 4 ). trypsin ( sigma ) was dissolved at a concentration of 1 mg / ml of the tris buffer and the igy solution was mixed with the enzyme solution ( 1 : 9 ), and the mixtures were incubated at 37 ° c . for time periods from 0 to 4 hours . a 0 . 5 ml sample of the incubation mixture was mixed with 0 . 05 ml of phenylmethyl sulfonyl fluoride solution ( 10 mm in isopropanol ) to inactivate the enzyme . the remaining antibody activity was measured by elisa . there is some degree of hydrolysis of igy but significant portion of igy activity is survived during harsh 4 hour digestion period . this may be worthy noting that antibodies in egg yolk are more resistant to enzymatic breakdown in comparison with igy in a pure form . it is likely that the extra egg yolk proteins and lipids play a protecting role against enzymatic attack . it is evident that igy is vulnerable toward enzymatic hydrolysis during relatively extended duration . however , a significant portion of igy survives a 4 hour digestion time period . this time factor is important to use igy in food processing and oral application . as igy is a protein , it is possible that a significant amount of igy given orally will be degraded and inactivated in the stomach and small intestine . however , the other components of egg yolk may have some protective effect . we have attempted to examine the remaining total igy content in stomach and small intestine after feeding whole egg yolk powder for various times ( 30 min , 1 h , 2 h , 4 h , 24 h and control groups ) by using mice as an animal model . the result of residual igy after feeding egg yolk powder to mice is shown in table 5 . twenty four albino mice ( four mice per group ) were fasted overnight before feeding . dried egg yolk powder was continuously fed to mice ad libitum with free access to water . after ½ , 1 , 2 , 4 and 24 hour , mice were terminated and dissected stomach and small intestine . the tissues were homogenized with buffer solution to neutralize the ph and enzyme activity with enzyme inhibitors and then centrifuged to collect supernatant including antibodies . the antibodies were concentrated by salt precipitation . the antibody activity was expressed by milligram of egg yolk antibody per gram of tissue . the control mice were also terminated before feeding as a control . yolk powder contains about 18 mg of igy per gram of egg yolk powder . after dissecting tissues from mice , the stomach and small intestine after removing digesta were measured . the wet weight of stomach is approximately 0 . 07 - 0 . 11 g . the wet weight of small intestine is approximately 0 . 50 - 0 . 58 g . large intestine 0 . 22 - 0 . 28 g . the weight of egg yolk powder in stomach is approximately ranged from 0 . 3 - 0 . 6 g . the weight of digesta in si , 0 . 1 8 - 0 . 44 g . if igy were not digested , total igy content is approximately 90 mg / gram of stomach tissue and total igy content is approximately 9 mg per gram of si tissue . as will be apparent to those skilled in the art , various modifications , adaptations and variations of the foregoing specific disclosure can be made without departing from the scope of the invention claimed herein . the various features and elements of the described invention may be combined in a manner different from the combinations described or claimed herein , without departing from the scope of the invention .
compositions , food products or beverages for ameliorating the symptoms of celiac disease or gluten sensitive enteropathy comprising egg yolk antibodies against gluten , including gliadin , high molecular glutenin , low molecular glutenin and mixtures of the peptides . the antibodies may be produced by immunizing egg laying fowl with immunogenic preparations of gluten and harvesting the eggs and egg yolks .