Increased Susceptibility to Ethylmercury-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction in a Subset of Autism Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines

Figure 5

Mitochondrial respiratory parameters and responses to ethylmercury differ in the AD-A LCL subgroup following 48-hour pretreatment with 1 mM N acetyl-cysteine (NAC). (a) ATP-linked respiration, (c) maximal respiratory capacity, and (d) reserve capacity are overall markedly significantly lower in the AD-A LCLs pretreated with NAC as compared to the nonpretreated group. (b) Proton leak respiration is only slightly but significantly lower in the NAC pretreated group as compared to the nonpretreated group. (d) Reserve capacity is markedly lower in the NAC pretreated AD-A LCLs at every concentration except the two highest concentrations. Furthermore, the drop in reserve capacity is significantly blunted in the AD-A LCLs pretreated with NAC as compared to the nonpretreated group. ; ; ↕ indicates an overall statistical difference between LCL groups when differences at individual concentrations are not significant.

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