Fig. 6: S-Benzyl-L-cysteine improves the ASD-like behaviors and restores E/I imbalance in the Chd8^+/− mice.

a Schematic diagram showing S-benzyl-L-cysteine and nimesulide as inhibitors of the intestinal amino acid transporter SLC6A19. b Schematic diagram for supplementation of S-benzyl-L-cysteine and nimesulide in the drinking water of 8-week-old Chd8^+/+ mice for 14 days. n = 10, 11, and 10 mice, respectively. c Serum levels of L-glutamine detected by the targeted metabolomics assays (n = 10 mice). d Levels of L-glutamine and L-glutamate in the whole brain detected by the targeted metabolomics assays (n = 10 mice). e Schematic diagram for supplementation of S-benzyl-L-cysteine in the drinking water of 21-day-old Chd8^+/+ and Chd8^+/− mice. f Percentages of the interaction time (left) and the preference index (right) in the social novelty preference session of the three-chamber social interaction test. n = 19, 10, and 10 mice, respectively. g Percentages of time spent in the light box in the light/dark box test. n = 21, 11, and 11 mice, respectively. h Representative traces (left) and percentages of time in the center (right) in the open-field test. n = 21, 11, and 11 mice, respectively. i Levels of L-glutamate, glutamate/GABA (Glu/GABA) and L-glutamine in the cerebrum and the level of L-glutamine in the serum detected by targeted metabolomics assays. n = 20, 10, and 10 mice, respectively. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Quantitative data are shown as the mean ± SEM. Statistical analysis was determined by the two-tailed Mann–Whitney test (d), one-way ANOVA with two-tailed Tukey’s multiple comparison test (c, f (right panel), g, h, i), and two-way ANOVA with two-tailed Turkey’s test for multiple comparisons (f (left panel)). Significance was indicated by P value.