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