Fig. 7

The inflammatory responses to ZnO NPs in BV2 cells. The mRNA relative values of cytokines gene expressions in BV2 cells (a). The gene expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and NOS2 were significant up-regulation after ZnO NPs exposure at 1, 3, and 6 h, and IL-10 gene expression was significantly increased at 3 and 6 h. The concentration of TNF-α and IL-1β in BV2 cells culture supernatants were performed by Elisa analysis (b). The secretion of both cytokines was significantly increased after ZnO NPs stimulation in BV2 cells at a dose ≥20 μg/mL, peaking at 3 and 6 h. Results shown as means ± SD from three independent experiments, compare with control group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Abbreviations: ZnO: zinc oxide nanoparticles; SD: Standard deviation