Fig. 3

Results of modulating cholesterol level and lipid accumulation by quercetin in HepG2 cells. a Effects of quercetin on the viability of HepG2 cells. b Oil red O staining results with or without administration of quercetin after 24 h. c Cellular TC levels at 12 h. d and e mRNA expression of SREBP2 and HMGCR were quantified by quantitative real-time PCR. Control: control group; Que.: quercetin in different dosage groups (30, 10, 5 μmol l^− 1). Data were presented as mean ± SEM. n = 6, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 vs. control group