Fig. 4

Manuka honey induced Caspase-3 activation and apoptosis induction in HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines. a Caspases-3 activity in HepG2 and Hep3B cells. Cells were treated without/with MH, DOX, or combined treatment for 48 h, and caspase-3 enzymatic activity was determined, using a specific colorimetric assay kit according to the manufacturer’s protocol as explained in the Materials and Methods section. b Manuka honey induced Histone-release and apoptotic induction in HepG2 and Hep3B cells. Cells were treated without/with MH, DOX, or combined treatment for 48 h and Histone-release activity was determined, using a specific ELISA assay kit according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Each point is an average of three independent experiments and is expressed as M ± SD. P-value was calculated versus control cells: **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001