Table 3 Median (interquartile range) concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers in saliva and serum in the different ages of collection (T0 = 30 days, T1 = 55 days, T2 = 115 days-old) and animals with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infection (Diseased). Different superscript letters (^a, ^b, ^c) indicate p < 0.05 between ages of recollection, whereas same letters indicate p > 0.05 and the absence of letters denotes p > 0.05 across all time points. Asterisks indicate significant difference between T1 and diseased (*: p < 0.05; **: P < 0.01; ***: p < 0.001; ns: non-significant).

Saliva

T0

25.68 (22.86)

1.53^a (1.37)

0.199^a (0.291)

2345.05^a (949.68)

26.26 (42.53)

T1

13.96 (12.86)

0.43^b (0.34)

0.097^b (0.070)

832.05^b (895.04)

12.06 (9.69)

T2

17.81 (27.08)

0.22^b (0.38)

0.075^b (0.093)

1146.03^b (1358.60)

14.55 (28.69)

Diseased

82.02*** (120.05)

1.91*** (3.08)

0.167*** (0.167)

1843.75* (2322.13)

39.62*** (41.54)

Serum

T0

12.85^a (9.05)

597.30 (650.60)

4.81^a (0.83)

7073.90 (3139.63)

1.49^a (2.55)

T1

28.75^b (34.03)

466.70 (654.10)

4.46^a (0.50)

6532.50 (3741.73)

3.58^ab (4.57)

T2

41.40^b (76.68)

647.50 (907.10)

6.19^b (0.56)

5872.30 (3611.90)

3.78^b (6.57)

Diseased

113.30*** (32.95)

1765.60*** (1370.80)

7.35** (1.59)

6551.90ns (2809.48)

16.81*** (21.58)