Growth of Salmonella enteritidis in yolk from eggs laid by immunized hens.

After hyperimmunization of laying hens with Salmonella enteritidis, antibodies can be found in egg yolks. This study was conducted to ascertain whether the growth of S. enteritidis would be suppressed in the presence of antibodies contained in egg yolk. Specifically pathogen-free (SPF)-laying hens were immunized with S. enteritidis; eggs were collected, the yolk was separated and the concentration of S. enteritidis antibodies was determined quantitatively by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the radial immunodiffusion and the bicinchoninic acid protein assay. Then, the yolk was inoculated with approximately 10, 100 or 1000 S. enteritidis cells/ml and incubated at 15, 20 and 30 degrees C for 0, 2, 6 and 24 h. The growth of organisms in each yolk was examined, and the generation times were calculated. The egg yolk from nonimmunized hens served as negative control. The highest level of antibody concentration was found in the hyperimmunized group. There was no difference in the generation times of S. enteritidis between the antibody-positive yolk and the negative yolk at the three different incubation temperatures. The results suggest that antibodies in the yolk do not influence the growth of S. enteritidis, even if the hens are highly immunized.