Fig. 3

Differential assessment of serum total antibody levels at each week post-infestation in two rabbit breeds infested with S. scabiei var. cuniculi. The serum samples were collected from the experimentally infested rabbits on weekly basis for assaying the total antibody levels by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the commercial kits. a Average total IgG levels in experimentally infested rabbits in two breeds at each week post-infestation (g/l). b Average total IgE levels in experimentally infested rabbits in two breeds at each week post-infestation (μg/ml). c Average total IgM levels in experimentally infested rabbits in two breeds at each week post-infestation (μg/ml). The histogram represents the mean of the total antibody levels for each group at a given time and the error bars represent the standard deviation (SD). Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences in the total antibody levels between two different groups of rabbit (*P < 0.05) and ‘n.s.’ indicates non-significant differences. Abbreviations: QX, the QiXing rabbit propagated by the Sichuan Animal Sciences Academy, China; IRA, the IRA rabbit