Fig. 1.

a Inhibitory effect of Manuka honey on the viability of HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines: HepG2 and Hep3B cells were grown in a complete DMEM medium and treated with different concentrations of MH (1.25% ~ 20%) for 48 h, and cells' viability was analyzed by MTT assay. Cell viability (%) was compared to control (untreated). Each data point is an average of three independent experiments and expressed as M ± SD. P-value *P < 0.05: **P < 0.01 and *** P < 0.001 compared to untreated control cells. b, d Dose–response curve of Manuka honey of HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines. c Cell viability (%) was compared to control (untreated) showed that MH has no significant cytotoxic effect on the primary normal human neonatal liver cells. The calculated IC₅₀ of MH for HepG2 and Hep3B cells was 6.92 ± 0.005% and 18.62 ± 0.07%, respectively. Each data point is an average of three independent experiments and expressed as ± MSD. P-value *P < 0.05: **P < 0.01 and *** P < 0.001 compared to untreated control cells