Figure 1.

Leptin caused a time- and concentration-dependent increase in the level of intracellular glucose in cultured HSCs, which was attenuated by curcumin. Analyses of levels of intracellular glucose. Values were expressed as pmol glucose·µg⁻¹ protein and presented as means ± SD (n = 3). *P < 0.05 versus the untreated control cells; ‡P < 0.05 versus cells treated with leptin alone at 100 ng·mL⁻¹. Percentages were calculated by the following formula: [Glu in target HSCs – Glu in compared HSCs)/Glu in compared HSCs] × 100% (n = 3). (A) Serum-starved HSCs were treated with leptin at 100 ng·mL⁻¹ in serum-free DMEM for indicated time-points. (B) Serum-starved HSCs were pretreated with curcumin at 0–30 µM for 1 h prior to the stimulation with or without leptin at indicated concentrations in serum-free media for additional 30 min.