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1. Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is commonly used as an octane booster and oxygenate additive to gasoline. The assumed toxic effects of MTBE on human health are a matter of great debate. Exposure to MTBE has been shown to induce oxidative damage and no mechanistic explanation is available so far. Our goals were to determine whether MTBE is a mitochondrial toxicant, if so, what mechanism(s) is involved.

2. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were received MTBE in drinking water for 3 months. At the end of treatments, animals were killed, liver and blood samples were collected for biochemical and histopathological studies, and oxidative stress biomarkers. The rat liver mitochondria were isolated and several mitochondrial indices were measured.

3. We found that zinc plasma levels were remarkably declined with MTBE and N, N, N′, N′-Tetrakis (2-pyridylmethyl) ethylenediamine (TPEN; a zinc chelator …