Table 1.

Features of autoimmunity elicited by exposure to HgCl₂ in Casp1, Il12a, Il12b and Stat4 deficient mice.

				Serum immunoglobulin (mg/ml)			ANoA	ANA	Anti-chromatin Abs	Kidney Glomeruli
Gene	Genotype	N	Treatment	IgG	IgG1	IgG2a	IgG	IgG	IgG	IgG	C3
Casp1	+/+	8	PBS	6.48 ± 0.97	0.53 ± 0.06	0.28 ± 0.05	0/8	0/8	0.05 ± 0.01	10 ± 10	10 ± 10
		9	HgCl2	12.25 ± 1.54c	1.32 ± 0.23b	0.50 ± 0.05c	9/9	9/9	1.13 ± 0.21e	658 ± 94f	907 ± 241c
	+/−	8	PBS	7.31 ± 0.62	0.47 ± 0.07	0.33 ± 0.05	0/8	0/8	0.04 ± 0.01	90 ± 28	10 ± 10
		9	HgCl2	12.29 ± 1.75a	2.06 ± 0.41c	0.57 ± 0.09a	9/9	9/9	2.91 ± 0.92b	524 ± 77f	400 ± 136a
	−/−	8	PBS	4.87 ± 0.60	0.57 ± 0.06	0.35 ± 0.02	0/8	1/8	0.03 ± 0.00	0 ± 0	10 ± 10
		8	HgCl2	11.94 ± 1.46e	1.74 ± 0.25e	0.67 ± 0.15	8/8	8/8	1.85 ± 0.33f	280 ± 150a,h	200 ± 77a,g
IL-12p35	+/+	8	PBS	5.70 ± 0.53	0.56 ± 0.05	0.22 ± 0.02	0/8	0/8	0.02 ± 0.00	0 ± 0	10 ± 10
		8	HgCl2	7.67 ± 1.05	1.52 ± 0.08e	0.46 ± 0.06c	7/8	5/8	0.87 ± 0.16d	390 ± 98e	630 ± 308d
	+/−	8	PBS	6.12 ± 0.29a	0.46 ± 0.03	0.24 ± 0.03	0/8	0/8	0.02 ± 0.00	5 ± 5	30 ± 21
		8	HgCl2	8.53 ± 0.73	0.95 ± 0.12c	0.55 ± 0.13a	7/8	3/8	0.43 ± 0.10d	640±0e	640 ± 201a
	−/−	8	PBS	5.56 ± 1.10	0.86 ± 0.13	0.22 ± 0.02	0/8	0/8	0.04 ± 0.02	30 ± 21	425 ± 309
		8	HgCl2	6.39 ± 1.66	0.89 ± 0.11	0.30 ± 0.12	7/8	4/8	0.30 ± 0.11g	280 ± 84b	700 ± 406
IL-12p40	+/+	8	PBS	9.20 ± 1.60	0.24 ± 0.04	0.32 ± 0.11	0/8	1/8	0.02 ± 0.00	135 ± 74	200 ± 77
		8	HgCl2	7.85 ± 1.07	0.59 ± 0.09c	0.20 ± 0.06	8/8	3/8	0.62 ± 0.20b	520 ± 59c	290 ± 68
	+/−	8	PBS	9.81 ± 1.05	0.27 ± 0.03	0.28 ± 0.06	0/8	1/8	0.05 ± 0.01	55 ± 39	220 ± 39
		8	HgCl2	10.85 ± 0.92	0.65 ± 0.10b	0.36 ± 0.04	6/8	4/8	0.72 ± 0.10e	545 ± 136c	650 ± 155
	−/−	8	PBS	5.90 ± 0.65	0.53 ± 0.12	0.12 ± 0.03	0/8	0/8	0.02 ± 0.01	90 ± 79	80 ± 21
		8	HgCl2	6.67 ± 0.95	0.68 ± 0.11	0.22 ± 0.05	5/8	2/8	0.74 ± 0.47d	650 ± 114c	440 ± 134b
Stat4	+/+	8	PBS	4.50 ± 1.38	0.80 ± 0.17	0.28 ± 0.09	0/8	1/8	0.05 ± 0.01	80 ± 80	40 ± 40
		8	HgCl2	6.47 ± 0.83	2.06 ± 0.30c	0.56 ± 0.12a	8/8	7/8	3.23 ± 0.85c	526 ± 71b	420 ± 151a
	+/−	8	PBS	4.13 ± 0.65	1.04 ± 0.22	0.30 ± 0.07	0/8	2/8	0.07 ± 0.01	120 ± 59	25 ± 20
		8	HgCl2	7.70 ± 1.71a	2.31 ± 0.24c	0.76 ± 0.12b	8/8	7/8	5.58 ± 0.91c	640 ± 105c	560 ± 168c
	−/−	8	PBS	8.38 ± 1.49	0.76 ± 0.11	0.28 ± 0.14	0/8	0/8	0.05 ± 0.01	57 ± 42	0 ± 0
		8	HgCl2	7.84 ± 1.65	2.15 ± 0.15d	0.49 ± 0.10	8/8	8/8	4.07 ± 1.04c	720 ± 216a	620 ± 206c

Values are expressed as mean ± SEM. p values were determined for comparisons between PBS and HgCl₂ within each group and HgCl₂ between groups.

N = number of animals/group.

For comparison of PBS against HgCl₂:

^ap < 0.05;

^bp < 0.01;

^cp < 0.005;

^dp < 0.001;

^ep < 0.0005;

^fp < 0.0001.

For comparison of −/− against +/+:

^gp < 0.05;

^hp < 0.01;

ⁱp < 0.005;

^jp < 0.001;

^kp < 0.0005;

^lp < 0.0001.