Table 4.

Morphology, stem cell proliferation, and lesion scores in the jejunum of naïve (Control) and PEDV-inoculated pigs at dpi 5 and 20¹

Parameter	Dpi				SEM	P-value
	5		20
	Control	PEDV	Control	PEDV		trt	dpi	trt × dpi
Morphology
VH, µm	288b	190c	348a	355a	15.310	0.006	<0.001	0.002
CD, µm	255	219	232	240	15.260	0.958	0.373	0.662
VH:CD	1.31x	0.88y	1.53x	1.57x	0.119	0.110	<0.001	0.054
Ki672	43c	57a	49b	52b	1.446	<0.001	0.493	0.001
Protein3, %	6.96ab	6.15b	6.80ab	7.68a	0.331	0.904	0.048	0.017
RNA3, %	0.13	0.14	0.14	0.14	0.017	0.581	0.536	0.877
Protein:RNA	57.81x	45.94y	42.28y	51.87xy	5.277	0.831	0.373	0.053
Lesion scores4
0	4/8	0/8	3/8	6/8	–	–	–	<0.001
1	4/8	1/8	5/8	2/8	–	–	–	–
2	0/8	5/8	0/8	0/8	–	–	–	–
3	0/8	2/8	0/8	0/8	–	–	–	–

trt, treatment; CD, crypt depth.

¹Represented by eight observations per treatment per time.

²Cells positive for Ki67 were counted in three intact villi of correct orientation and an average per villus was calculated. Ki67 is a marker for stem cell proliferation.

³Represented as a percent (g/g) of tissue.

⁴Lesion score: 0 = normal; 1 = mild villus blunting with rare fusion; 2 = moderate villus blunting and fusion with lymphoid infiltration; 3 = severe villus blunting and fusion with lymphoid infiltration. The interaction of treatment and dpi significantly influenced lesion score in the jejunum as determined by Fisher’s exact test.

^a,bMeans without a common superscript differ (P ≤ 0.05); ^x,yMeans without a common superscript differ (P < 0.10).