Fig. 3.

Gene expression of inflammatory mediators in AEII cells. Gene expression of a Ccl2, b Ccl7, c Ccl17, d Ccl22, e Ccl3, f Ccl4, g Il-1α, h Il-1ß, and i Il-1rn in AEII cells of rats exposed to 0.1, 0.3, 1.0 or 3.0 mg/m³ CeO₂ or 50.0 mg/m³ BaSO₄ nanoparticles for one, 28 or 90 days is illustrated. Values are expressed as mean fold regulation of clean air control ± SD; cut-off: fold regulation ≤ − 2.0 or ≥ 2.0 (dotted line), *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; n ≤ 5; Student’s T-test analysis of the replicate 2^−∆Ct values for each gene in the control and treatment groups