Effect of NAC treatment on the plasma thiol, REDST, HVR, and EPO levels.

Relative changes during medication between baseline and terminal examination expressed as percentage of baseline values. With EPO, baseline examination took place on day 1 at 8 am, and the terminal examination was on day 6 at 8 am (before hypoxia) or at 6 pm (2 hours after hypoxia), as indicated. In all other cases, the relative changes were computed from the means of all measured values on day 1 and day 5, respectively. Similar data (P < .05) were obtained if the HVR data were normalized according to the individual body weight (not shown). Values are mean ± SEM (P = placebo, n = 13; N = NAC, n = 13). Significant differences between baseline and terminal values are indicated (#P < .05; ##P < .01).