Figure 2.
Concentration-associated dual effects of free cholesterol loading on macrophage viability. A: Absorbance readings showed that the relative production of the formazan metabolite increased from 1.0 in control to 1.40 ± 0.14 at 20 μg/ml of free cholesterol and then gradually decreased to 0.92 ± 0.08 at 60 μg/ml of cholesterol. B: Flow cytometry readings of relative viable macrophage numbers showed a concentration-associated pattern of change similar to that of formazan metabolite production presented in A. (P<0.05, *: vs. 0 group; #: vs. 20 μg/ml group, n = 7).