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Figure 4. Levels of alveolar bone loss elicited following P. gingivalis oral challenge. BALB/c mice immunized with rgpA DNA vaccine via abdominal skin by Gene Gun (2.5 µg/mouse), mice immunized nasally with rgpA-HVJ envelope vector (20 µg/mouse); control group consisted of age-matched, non-vaccinated mice and pVAX1 immunized mice orally challenged with P. gingivalis ATCC 33277 (Pg). At 42 days after oral challenge, all mice were killed. Linear measurements (n = 14 sites) were obtained from the mean of the maxillary molars in each mouse, and pooled linear measurements (in millimeters) were calculated for each group (N = 20 for non-infected naïve mice, P. gingivalis-infected naïve mice, and P. gingivalis-infected HVJ envelope vector-immunized mice; N = 15 for P. gingivalis-infected Gene Gun-immunized mice; N = 15 for pVAX1 immunized with HVJ envelope vector). Data are shown as mean ± standard deviation. One-way ANOVA for repeated measurements was used for inter-group comparisons. The Student-Newman-Keuls test was used for multiple comparisons (*p < 0.01). CEJ = cemento-enamel junction, ABC = alveolar bone crest.
