Fig. 2

S. aureus shows minor cytotoxicity to the tonsillar cell line. LDH release from tonsillar cells into the supernatant was measured following exposure with/without S. aureus for 1 and 3 h. The orange bar represents the percentage (%) of LDH released by the tonsillar cell line in the absence of S. aureus (negative control) whereas red bar presents the LDH % release by the tonsillar cell line in the presence of S. aureus. The bacterial cytotoxicity was calculated as a percentage of maximum LDH release control (positive control). The results are based on three independent experiments