Fig. 2

Effect of 3-hydroxybutyrate supplementation on cholesterol homeostasis. Septic mice received parenteral nutrition supplemented with 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) or isocaloric glucose as placebo (plcb). a Plasma mevalonate concentrations. b Overview of main enzymes involved in cholesterogenesis. c Relative mRNA levels of genes involved in hepatic cholesterol synthesis, d hepatic cholesterol uptake, e hepatic cholesterol efflux, f muscle cholesterol synthesis, g muscle cholesterol uptake and h muscle cholesterol efflux. Gene expression data are normalized to Hprt or Rn18s and shown relative to the mean of healthy controls (ctrl) [White: healthy controls, n = 15; orange: septic mice receiving placebo, n = 17; green: septic mice receiving 3HB, n = 17]. Data in boxplots represent median and interquartile range; dots represent outliers. §p ≤ 0.05 §§p ≤ 0.01 §§§p ≤ 0.001 between healthy controls and septic mice, *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001 between groups of septic mice