[Absorption and the immune response to ovalbumin administered by various methods in the dogs]

Absorption and immune response to ovalbumin (OA) were studied in chronic experiments on dogs after intraenteral administration (5 dogs) and feeding (3 dogs) with non-boiled hen eggs. A modified concurrent radioimmunoassay was used to estimate the blood serum content of OA antigenic structures and antibodies to them. In 7 out of 8 dogs the antigen was detected in blood already after the first intraenteral administration or feeding. It was established that absorption of OA antigenic structures was more intensive after intraenteral administration than after feeding with hen eggs. Antibodies to OA were detected in blood on day 15 in case of intraenteral administration and on day 20 when the animals were fed with eggs. The blood antibody titre to OA in dogs receiving ovalbumin by intraenteral route was 10-fold higher as compared to that in dogs fed with hen eggs. The data obtained evidence a high potential risk of the body sensitization to food protein during intraenteral food administration, as it happens, for example, in tube intraenteral feeding.