Cytotoxicity effect of stearic acid on 3T3L1 preadipocytes.

<p>(A) Lactate dehydrogenase concentrations increased significantly when the dose of stearic acid was over 35 µM after 48 hours of treatment, and peaked at 100–200 µM (*, p<0.01, compared with the control group, n = 4). (B) Measurement of caspase-3 activity showed stearic acid (50 µM) increased caspase-3 activity of the cultured preadipocytes after 48 hours' treatment (*, p<0.05, compared to control, n = 4). (C). When preadipocytes were pretreated with a specific caspase-3 inhibitor for 4 hours, and then treated with stearic acid (50 µM), the stearic acid induced cytotoxicity was partially inhibited (*, p<0.01, compared with the control group; #, p<0.01, n = 3).