Fig. 1.

Cell viability after exposure to copper sulfate at different concentrations for 24 h. Cell viability decreases with increasing doses of copper sulfate. Control cells, submitted to 1,000 μM sodium sulfate for 24 h, represent 100% viability and did not present significant alteration in viability when compared with cells treated with complete medium (BME). Cell viability was copper sulfate dose-dependent from 250 to 1,000 μM. However, in contrast to 250 μM, a subcytotoxic dose that led to 94.6% of cell viability, cell exposure to the higher doses of copper sulfate, 500, 750, and 1,000 μM, resulted in a decrease in cell viability to 41.0%, 21.8%, and 17.8%, respectively. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM from three independent experiments