Figure 3.

evaluation of apoptosis in response to black pepper. Representative (a) acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual staining and (b) Hoechst 33342 dye staining for nuclear condensation in apoptotic K-562 cells treated with methanol extract of black pepper and piperine at IC₅₀ equivalent concentrations for 48 h. The images were visualized at 200× magnification using a fluorescent microscope. The experiment was performed three times independently. Arrows indicate (a) white, live cells, green, early apoptotic cells and red, late apoptotic cells; (b) blue, condensed chromatin; yellow, nuclear fragmentation. BP-M, black pepper methanol extract; PIP, piperine.