Fig. 1

Low glucose and metformin in the culture medium inhibit the growth of human ovarian cancer cells. a Ovarian cancer cells, including SKOV3, OVCRA3 and HO8910, were treated with varying concentrations of glucose (abbreviated as Glu) and metformin (abbreviated as Met) for 24 h or 48 h. Cell viability was determined by MTT assay. Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 3). b Cells were treated with varying glucose concentrations and 8 mM metformin for 24 h, and they were imaged using an optical microscope. c Percentage of apoptotic cells was detected by flow cytometry and quantitated. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3; **P < 0.01 versus control group)