Genes Nutr (2010) 5:331–341 Table 2 A list of selected signiﬁcantly up-regulated and down-regulated genes in HepG2 cells treated with methanolic extracts of T. indica fruit pulp that may be related to stress response (A), lipid metabolic processes (B) and others (C) Details of the GenBank accession number, name of the gene and its respective protein and fold change difference between treated and non-treated cells are included Fig. 4 An analysis of the involvement of the differentially expressed genes in HepG2 cells in response to treatment with the methanol extracts of the T. indica fruit pulp in general metabolisms. The purple and green bars represent the number of down-regulated and up-regulated genes, respectively. Amongst the down-regulated genes are those involved in cholesterol synthesis and lipoprotein metabolism Genebank ID Protein (gene name) Stress response NM_176870 Metallothionein 1 M (MT1M) 5.21 NM_005949 Metallothionein 1F (MT1F) 2.35 NM_005952 Metallothionein 1X (MT1X) 1.68 NM_145740 Glutathione S-transferases (GSTA1) 2.80 NM_000846 Glutathione S-transferases (GSTA2) 1.60 NM_183239 Glutathione S-transferases (GSTO2) 1.73 Lipid metabolic process NM_000482 Apolipoprotein A-IV (APOA4) 2.31 NM_052968 Apolipoprotein A-V (APOA5) 1.90 NM_022436 ATP-binding cassette, subfamily G (WHITE), member 5 (ABCG5) 1.84 NM_000253 Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTTP) -1.80 Others NM_000921 Phosphodiesterase 3A, cGMP-inhibited (PDE3A) -5.10 NM_000499 Cytochrome P450, family 1, subfamily A, polypeptide 1 (CYP1A1) -3.61 NM_004590 Chemokine (C–C motif) ligand 16 (CCL16) -4.36 NM_004219 Pituitary tumour-transforming 1 (PTTG1) -2.93 NM_199246 Cyclin G1 (CCNG1) -2.31 NM_004701 Cyclin B2 (CCNB2) -2.24 NM_004354 Cyclin G2 (CCNG2) -1.97 NM_001237 Cyclin A2 (CCNA2) -1.93 NM_001786 Cell division cycle 2, G1 to S and G2 to M (CDC2) -1.85 NM_031966 Cyclin B1 (CCNB1) -1.78 337 Fold change (treated vs. untreated) cardiovascular complications. Presently, statin, which is an inhibitor of HMGCoA reductase, is widely used to decrease plasma LDL and is able to reduce cardiovascular events by 20–40% [42]. Patients who cannot tolerate or respond poorly to statin are given other hypolipidaemic therapies such as ﬁbrates and nicotinic acid. Scientists are now tapping into the rich biodiversity of the world to look for functional foods that can reduce cholesterol and lipid levels and are as potent, well-tolerated, cheaper, safer alternatives to the currently marketed drugs. The extracts of the T. indica fruit pulp have the potential to be used as lipid-lowering agents. An earlier study by 123