Figure 1. (-)-Epicatechin is a flavanol that selectively stimulates mitochondrial respiration in pancreatic cancer cells.

(A) Oxygen consumption by cytochrome c oxidase (COX) from Panc-1 cells exposed to different (-)-epicatechin concentrations. Turnover is defined as consumed O₂ (nM)/(min · total protein (mg)). Respiration rates are increased by (-)-epicatechin in a concentration-dependent manner. *p<0.05, compared to 0 µM (-)-epicatechin. (B) Oxygen consumption by cytochrome c oxidase (COX) from human normal fibroblast (HNF) cells exposed to 0 or 100 µM (-)-epicatechin. Respiration rates are not increased by 100 µM (-)-epicatechin.