Fig. 1

The protective effects of ginsenoside Rg1 on starvation-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cells. a Effects of ginsenoside Rg1 doses on the cell viability of H9c2 under starvation at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240 min. H9c2 cells were incubated with ginsenoside Rg1 at either 25 (G-Rg1-L), 50 (G-Rg1-M) and 100 μM (G-Rg1-H) for 12 h. The cells were then cultured with or without ginsenoside Rg1 in serum and glucose-free DMEM over 240 min. The time-course of cell viability was determined by MTT assay. Values are expressed as the mean ± SD, n = 3. ^# p < 0.05, ^## p < 0.01, starvation model group (M) versus control group (0 min); *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ginsenoside Rg1 treatment groups (G-Rg1-L, G-Rg1-M, G-Rg1-H) compared with the corresponding time point of starvation model (M). b, c Effects of ginsenoside Rg 1 on starvation-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cells using TUNEL and Hoechst staining. d Effects ofginsenoside Rg1 on starvation-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cells using flow cytometric analysis (Additional file 1: Figure S2). e Effects of ginsenoside Rg1 on expression of caspase 3 in H9c2 cells using Western blot analysis. Densitometric analysis was used to quantify the levels of active caspase 3 in H9c2 cells with and without ginsenoside Rg1 treatment. Data is shown as mean ± SD, n = 3. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, starvation model group (30–240 min) versus the corresponding time point of starvation model group