Figure 4

Gene responses to TCDD exposure in livers of dioxin-resistant and dioxin-sensitive rats: measurement of selected mRNA levels by real-time RT-PCR. Hepatic RNA was prepared from male adult TCDD-sensitive rats (L-E and LnC) and TCDD-resistant rats (H/W and LnA) after 19-hour treatment with a single dose of 100 μg/kg TCDD or corn-oil vehicle control by gavage. mRNA levels were measured by real-time RT-PCR and normalized as described in Materials & Methods. For each gene, the mRNA level that was highest for any strain/line or treatment was set at 100% and all other mRNA levels for that gene are shown as a percentage of that maximal level. All results plotted represent the mean ± standard deviation of four rats. Asterisks indicate significant differences in mRNA levels between control and TCDD-treated rats (t-test; two-tailed, unequal variance, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001). Note: levels of CYP1A1 mRNA in control animals were below detection limits (ND).