Figure 1.

Raised osmolarity reduced rabbit erythrocyte hemolysis induced by Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin. The percent hemolysis (%H) was measured over 60 minutes under either (A) chronic or (B) acute challenge with various osmolarities as follows; 0.9% saline (control, 300 mOsm (•)) and saline osmolarity raised by sucrose addition to 400 mOsm (□), 600 mOsm (▲) or 900 mOsm (∇) either before toxin addition (chronic) or at approximately 20% to 30% hemolysis (indicated by the bar and arrow – “osmolarity change”). The panels labeled (ii) show the %H data at t = 60 minutes plotted as a function of osmolarity, and the panels labeled (iii) show the rate of change of %H/10 min plotted as a function of osmolarity. In this and subsequent figures, significant differences are indicated as follows: * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001). Results are means ± SEM from 5(2), that is, from 5 independent experiments and 2 replicates for each experiment.