Fig. 3
Pro-inflammatory cytokines in BALF after intratracheal instillation of NiO NPs, NiCl2, and OVA. NiO NPs were instilled at 200 cm2/rat and evaluated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines at 1, 2, 3, and 4 days after instillation. NiCl2 was instilled at 378.0 μg/rat, which is equivalent to the nickel dose (171.1 μg Ni/rat) of NiO NPs at 200 cm2/rat, and pro-inflammatory cytokines were measured at 1 day after instillation. a IL-1β. b CINC-3. c Eotaxin. Abbreviations: VEH, vehicle control for NiO NPs and NiCl2; OVA, ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation; VEHOVA, vehicle control for OVA group. Mean ± SEM (n = 10 for NiO NPs and n = 4 for NiCl2 and OVA group). One-way ANOVA test was applied for comparison between NiO NPs and VEH with statistical significance indicated by *** p < 0.001. Student’s t-test was applied for comparison of NiCl2 against VEH and OVA group against VEHOVA with statistical significance indicated by ### p < 0.001