This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Com- mercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Korean J. Food Sci. An. 37(1): 1~9 (2017) DOI https://doi.org/10.5851/kosfa.2017.37.1.1 Copyright © Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources 1 REVIEW pISSN 1225-8563 eISSN 2234-246X Korean Journal for Food Science of Animal Resources Chicken Egg Yolk Antibodies (IgY) for Prophylaxis and Treatment of Rotavirus Diarrhea in Human and Animal Neonates: A Concise Review Hlaing Myat Thu 1 , Theingi Win Myat 1 , Mo Mo Win 1 , Kyaw Zin Thant 1 , Shofiqur Rah- man 2 , Kouji Umeda 2 , Sa Van Nguyen 2 , Faustino C. Icatlo, Jr. 2 , Kyoko Higo-Mori- guchi 3 , Koki Taniguchi 3 , Takao Tsuji 4 , Keiji Oguma 5 , Sang Jong Kim 6 , Hyun Suk Bae 6 , and Hyuk Joon Choi* BK bio, #2706-38, Iljudong-ro, Gujwa-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, 63359, Korea Department of Medical Research, No. 5, Ziwaka road, Dagon township, P.O. 11191, Yangon, Myanmar Immunology Research Institute in Gifu, EW Nutrition Japan, 839-7 Sano, Gifu 501-1101, Japan Department of Virology and Parasitology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan Department of Microbiology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan Department of Bacteriology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Dairy Team, Lotte R&D Center, 30 Seonyu-ro 9-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea Abstract The rotavirus-induced diarrhea of human and animal neonates is a major public health con- cern worldwide. Until recently, no effective therapy is available to specifically inactivate the rotavirion particles within the gut. Passive immunotherapy by oral administration of chicken egg yolk antibody (IgY) has emerged of late as a fresh alternative strategy to control infec- tious diseases of the alimentary tract and has been applied in the treatment of diarrhea due to rotavirus infection. The purpose of this concise review is to evaluate evidence on the proper- ties and performance of anti-rotavirus immunoglobulin Y (IgY) for prevention and treatment of rotavirus diarrhea in human and animal neonates. A survey of relevant anti-rotavirus IgY basic studies and clinical trials among neonatal animals (since 1994-2015) and humans (since 1982-2015) have been reviewed and briefly summarized. Our analysis of a number of rotavi- rus investigations involving animal and human clinical trials revealed that anti-rotavirus IgY significantly reduced the severity of clinical manifestation of diarrhea among IgY-treated sub- jects relative to a corresponding control or placebo group. The accumulated information as a whole depicts oral IgY to be a safe and efficacious option for treatment of rotavirus diarrhea in neonates. There is however a clear need for more randomized, placebo controlled and dou- ble-blind trials with bigger sample size to further solidify and confirm claims of efficacy and safety in controlling diarrhea caused by rotavirus infection especially among human infants with health issues such as low birth weights or compromised immunity in whom it is most needed. Keywords Rotavirus, diarrhea disease, neonates, oral passive immunotherapy, IgY Introduction Globally diarrhea is considered as one of the leading contributor to neonatal death in human and animal (Dhama et al., 2009). Among infants and young chil- Received January 25, 2017 Revised February 16, 2017 Accepted February 16, 2017 Corresponding author Hyuk Joon Choi BK bio, Jeju 63359, Korea Tel: +82-64-753-8600 Fax: +82-64-782-6188 E-mail: hjchoi@bkbio.com