A multiepitope vaccine encoding four Eimeria epitopes with PLGA nanospheres: a novel vaccine candidate against coccidiosis in laying chickens

Table 4 Immunoprotection of NSLC protein with different adjuvants.

Group	Coefficient of growth (14–28 days of age)				Coefficient of growth (28–35 days of age)				Oocyst burden in caecal contents			Oocyst reduction (%)
Group	Value (%)	p value^a	p value^b	p value^c	Value (%)	p value^a	p value^b	p value^c	Value (× 10⁶, OPG)	p value^b	p value^c
Blank (PBS)	113.470 ± 15.929	–	0.4639	0.2242	42.304 ± 10.695	–	<0.0001	<0.0001	–	–	–	–
Blank (Coccidia)	126.953 ± 24.954	0.4639	–	0.9994	18.506 ± 7.074	<0.0001	–	0.7142	10.960 ± 0.913	–	0.5322	–
Control	130.262 ± 19.041	0.2242	0.9994	–	23.762 ± 11.021	<0.0001	0.7142	–	10.498 ± 0.862	0.5322	–	4.214
NSLC	127.675 ± 23.559	0.4024	0.9999	0.9996	26.096 ± 11.340	<0.0001	0.2182	0.9987	6.438 ± 1.252	<0.0001	<0.0001	41.258
NSLC-FA	122.853 ± 31.616	0.8368	0.9992	0.9519	22.232 ± 8.078	<0.0001	0.9550	>0.9999	3.406 ± 1.769	<0.0001	<0.0001	68.925
NSLC-PLGA	115.997 ± 9.730	0.9996	0.7002	0.3977	31.690 ± 11.665	0.0173	0.0011	0.1721	2.053 ± 0.735	<0.0001	<0.0001	81.271
NSLC-CS	120.069 ± 41.894	0.9767	0.9693	0.7696	29.223 ± 10.961	0.0012	0.0156	0.6671	2.391 ± 0.554	<0.0001	<0.0001	78.182
NSLC-ISCOM	120.457 ± 38.920	0.9663	0.9793	0.8029	28.059 ± 11.272	0.0003	0.0463	0.8932	1.240 ± 0.597	<0.0001	<0.0001	88.688
NSLC-RG1	112.612 ± 11.816	0.9999	0.3916	0.1800	32.830 ± 10.204	0.0497	0.0003	0.0705	1.879 ± 0.593	<0.0001	<0.0001	82.854
NSLC-201VG	106.837 ± 10.315	0.9995	0.2479	0.1016	33.029 ± 10.650	0.0591	0.0002	0.0595	2.669 ± 0.806	<0.0001	<0.0001	75.651
NSLC-71VR	118.322 ± 25.292	0.9963	0.8898	0.6067	26.577 ± 12.282	<0.0001	0.1551	0.9941	2.671 ± 0.602	<0.0001	<0.0001	75.633

Twenty animals in each group were weighed at 14 (before the first immunization), 28 (before challenge), and 35 (seven days after challenge) days of age, and animals in each group were challenged with E. tenella at 28 days of age and euthanized seven days later. Caecal contents were collected to evaluate the effects of different adjuvants on the protective efficacy of NSLC proteins. Each sample was assessed once, and values were estimated by one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test and are shown as the mean ± SD (n = 20).
^a–cWere compared with the blank (PBS), blank (coccidia), and control groups, respectively.

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