Fig. 5.

Maintenance of Akt kinase activation involved in the protective effect of silymarin on palmitate-induced cell death. (A) Silymarin prevented palmitate-induced inhibition on Akt kinase activation in HepG2 cells. Akt kinase activity (U/mg protein) was measured when incubation of HepG2 cells with 0.25 mM palmitate with or without silymarin pre-treatment. At least three experiments were conducted for each measurement. Values in bars that do not share a letter differ significantly, P < 0.05. (B) Inhibition of Akt kinase induced cell death in HepG2. At least three experiments were conducted for each measurement. *Value is significantly different from that seen in the control cells; ^†Value is significantly different from that seen in the presence of palmitate alone, P < 0.05.