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. 2021 Jul 29;13(8):2617. doi: 10.3390/nu13082617

Figure 2.

Figure 2

EPA and DHA protect liver cells against bile acid-induced apoptosis in the presence of UDCA. HepG2 cells were treated with vehicle (DMSO), EPA/DHA, UDCA, or a combination of EPA/DHA + UDCA at the indicated doses for 24 h, and subsequently exposed for 2 h treatment to the vehicle or a toxic BA mixture (CA, CDCA, LCA, and DCA, 100 µM each), caspase 3 activity was then quantified as detailed in the materials and methods section and expressed relatively to control cells set at 1. Data represent the mean of two independent experiments in which each treatment was performed in quadruplicate. Each data point therefore corresponds to the mean of 8 replicates ± SD. Statistical significances as determined by a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison post-hoc were as follows: Untreated cells exposed to vehicle vs. untreated cells exposed to bile acids: †††† p < 0.0001; Vehicle cells vs. UDCA treated cells: ‡‡‡‡ p < 0.0001; BA exposed cells vs. BA + UDCA ± EPA/DHA exposed cells: **** p < 0.0001; UDCA treated cells vs. UDCA + EPA/DHA treated cells: §§§§ p < 0.0001; E50:D50: EPA 50 µM and DHA 50 µM.