Fig. 9

Illustration of relative differences in the reaction of male and female rats to LD and HD of AgNPs. Orange-oxidative stress markers corresponding to no oxidative stress; red-oxidative stress markers indicating oxidative stress; light green–antioxidant levels showing no oxidative stress response; yellow-antioxidant levels showing oxidative stress response; dark green-antioxidant levels showing suppression of oxidative stress response; gray-silver accumulation; blue-male rats; purple-female rats. Cone heights represent values of the measured parameters relative to control values expressed in percentage. All control values are 100%, except the control values for the Ag content which was equal to zero. Ag content in the treated rats is expressed as a difference between sample and control values expressed as a percentage to the arbitrary set 0.5 μg per g of tissue. *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.001 between controls (Ctl) and treated animals, ^#p < 0.05 between LD and HD groups of the same sex and ^§p < 0.05 between males and females