Fig. 3

αS. suis cps3 serum IgM (A, B) and IgG (C, D) levels in piglets with or w/o buprenorphine treatment. Serum was taken from untreated (UT) (●) and buprenorphine-treated (BT) (■) piglets on the indicated time points and the course of αS. suis 16667/3 IgM (A + B) and IgG (C + D) antibodies was determined by ELISA using inactivated, immobilized S. suis cps3 as antigen. Piglets were intravenously infected with S. suis cps3 with the infection dose indicated at the top. One group per experiment was treated i.m. with 0.05 mg/kg buprenorphine 0 to 5 days post infection (dpi) every 8 h. Prematurely euthanized piglets were excluded from this analysis. Significant differences in antibody levels between buprenorphine treated and untreated piglets were not recorded. Mean values are indicated by horizontal lines, standard deviations by error bars. Statistical analysis was conducted with the Mann–Whitney-U-test (comparison of groups) or one-way ANOVA and subsequently the Dunn’s multiple comparisons test (comparison of time points). Significances are indicated (* p < 0.05)