FIG 3.
Quantification of HEV RNA loads in serum, fecal, and bile samples of wild-type and JH knockout gnotobiotic piglets experimentally infected with HEV. Viral RNAs were extracted from fecal samples three times weekly (A), intestinal contents and bile at 28 dpi (B), as a scatterplot of fecal viral RNA, with each symbol indicating the value for an individual piglet (C), and serum samples at 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 dpi (D) for the quantification of HEV RNA copy numbers by qRT-PCR. The data are expressed as means ± the SEM. The detection limit is 10 viral genomic copies, which corresponds to 400 copies per 1-ml sample or per gram of tissue. Titers below the reported detection limit were considered negative. Asterisks indicate statistical significance between designated groups as determined by two-way ANOVA and a P value of <0.05.