Figure 1.

Inula britannica flower aqueous extract (IAE) inhibits lipid accumulation without exerting cytotoxic effects during the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The cells were induced to differentiate by the MDI (differentiation medium) upon treatment with IAE in indicated concentrations. (A) The effect of IAE on cell viability was evaluated with the MTT assay (■, cell viability of preadipocytes; □, cell viability of differentiated preadipocytes). (B) Oil Red O staining of intracellular lipids on day 8. (C) Relative absorbance of Oil Red O eluted from intracellular lipids at 500 nm. (D) Measurement of intracellular triglyceride levels on day 8. The data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Values labeled with different letters (a–e) are significantly different (p < 0.05). Differences among the multiple groups were determined based on one-tailed one-way analysis of variance, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test.