Figure 5.

Evaluating the protective effects of scFvs on PEDV-induced diarrhea in piglets. (A) Experimental design showing the oral administration of rAdV-ZW, PEDV challenge, and how we evaluated protective effects in piglets. (B) After PEDV challenge, fecal consistency scores were measured to evaluate the effects of rAdV-ZW on diarrhea severity. Fecal consistency was evaluated using a 0-3 scoring scale: 0 = solid feces; 1 = pasty feces; 2 = semi-liquid feces; and 3 = liquid feces. (C) Effects of rAdV-ZW on rectal temperatures of piglets challenged with PEDV. Rectal temperatures, induced by PEDV in piglets via the oral administration of rAdV-wild-type or PBS, were significantly increased; the highest temperature was approximately 40°C, and rAdV-ZW administration delayed and attenuated increased rectal temperatures induced by PEDV in piglets. (D) Piglet weight gain percentages during studies. Piglets were weighed before PEDV challenge and at 7 dpc, with weight gain percentages shown. PEDV-infected piglets upon oral rAdV-wild-type or PBS administration lost approximately 20% of their body weight. (E) Piglets were observed for 7 days after challenge to assess the effects of rAdV-ZW on survival rates. After PEDV infection, piglets orally administered rAdV-wild-type or PBS died, while those orally administered rAdV-ZW survived. (F) PEDV feces quantification; fecal samples were collected daily and viral RNA extracted to analyze PEDV production by RT-qPCR using specific PEDV M gene primers. Values were presented as the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Ns = not significant (P > 0.05).