Background: Recently, the harmful effects of frying oil on health have been gradually realized. However, as main components of frying oils, biochemical effects of total polar compounds (TPC) on a cellular level were underestimated.
Methods: The effects of total polar compounds (TPC) in the frying oil on the lipid metabolism, oxidative stress and cytotoxicity of HepG2 cells were investigated through a series of biochemical methods, such as oil red staining, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), cell apoptosis and cell arrest.