Plasma PQQ and mtDNA/nuclear DNA Ratio Levels.

1Rats were fed an amino acid-based semi-purified diet either deficient in PQQ (PQQ−) or with PQQ added at 2 mg/kg diet (PQQ+). Rats initially fed PQQ− diets were also repleted with PQQ by i.p. injection (4.5 mg PQQ/Kg BW/24 hours X 3). 2The superscripts *, **, *** represent significance relative to the PQQ+ group at p<0.2; <0.05; or p<0.01, respectively. 3The relative amounts of liver mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA were measured by real-time PCR. The targeted genes were the nuclear cystic fibrosis and the mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase-5 gene. When corresponding values for liver in each experiment are averaged, the liver values were significant at p<0.01 (PQQ+ vs PQQ− and PQQ+ vs PQQ −/+ based on ANOVA analysis using a Bonferoni correction); for heart, p<0.3.