Figure 2. Clozapine or haloperidol within the therapeutic range does not affect basal telomerase levels.

Peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated from three different individuals and seeded onto 6-well culture dishes. Varying quantities of clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic, or haloperidol, a typical antipsychotic, were added to the medium. After 5 days in culture, lymphocytes were harvested and telomerase levels were determined (Materials and Methods). Black-filled circles represent controls (untreated or treated with methanol, which was used to dissolve the drugs). Gray-filled circles represent values obtained with antipsychotics within the therapeutic range (0.2–1.0 μg/mL for clozapine, and 0.002 to 0.02 μg/mL for haloperidol). Open circles represent values obtained with antipsychotics outside the therapeutic range. * represents values that differ significantly from the untreated group (p≤0.05). p-values are corrected for multiple comparisons using Bonferroni’s method. Error bars=standard error of the mean.