Fig. 2

BIG can effectively inhibit the apoptosis of human arthritis chondrocytes by promoting cholesterol metabolism. A, B BIG promoted cholesterol metabolism, resulting in a decrease in both the total and free cholesterol. C–F BIG inhibited the expression of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and AGEs. G, H BIG stimulated the secretion of the cholesterol metabolism-related enzymes CH25H and CYP7B1. J The flow cytometry results show that BIG inhibited the apoptosis of chondrocytes. I The proportion of apoptotic cells (Q2 + Q3) was significantly lower in the BIG group than in the control group. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM (n = 3) and were analysed by the Kruskal‒Wallis test, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001