GDNF protects against palmitate-induced cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells and RALA255 rat hepatocytes. (A) Assessment of cytotoxicity in HepG2 cell death cultured for 24 and 48 h in medium supplemented with or without GDNF (100 ng/ml) and palmitate (PA) (0.2 and 0.25 mM). Plotted are means + SEM relative to vehicle (***, P<0.001. n = 5). (B) Assessment of cytotoxicity in VEC and siAtg5 Rala255–10G rat hepatocytes cultured for 48h of in the presence and absence of GDNF (100 ng/ml) and PA (0.2 and 0.25 mM). Plotted are means + SEM relative to vehicle (***, P<0.001 **, P<0.01; *, P<0.05. n = 4). (C) Western blot analysis of cleaved caspase-3 levels in VEC and siAtg5 hepatocytes cultured for 24 h in the presence and absence of GDNF (100 ng/ml) and PA (0.2 and 0.3 mM). Plotted are means + SEM (***, P<0.001) **, P<0.01. n = 3).