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Fig. 3 | Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Fig. 3

From: Revisiting the paradigm of silica pathogenicity with synthetic quartz crystals: the role of crystallinity and surface disorder

Fig. 3

Hemolysis (a) and liposome rupture (b) induced by as-grown (n-Qz-syn, μ-Qz-syn) and fractured (μ-Qz-syn-f and Qz-f) quartz crystals. Quartz was incubated at increasing concentrations with purified human red blood cells (RBCs) or phosphatidylcholine vesicles. Values are mean ± SD from at least three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 vs control not exposed to particles. A modest lytic effect towards RBCs and small lipid vesicles (<300 nm) was observed upon incubation with as-grown quartz crystals, while a remarkable dose-dependent lysis, up to ca. 45 %, was induced by fractured quartz

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