Fig. 4

Effect of 3-hydroxybutyrate supplementation on plasma ubiquinone, myofiber mitochondrial function and myofiber cholesterol content. Septic mice received parenteral nutrition supplemented with 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) or isocaloric glucose as placebo (plcb). a Plasma ubiquinone-9 concentration [White: healthy controls (ctrl), n = 13; orange: septic mice receiving placebo, n = 15; green: septic mice receiving 3HB, n = 14]. b Mitochondrial citrate synthase and c complex I activities per gram protein in skeletal muscle. d Muscle gene expression analysis of enzymes involved in cholesterol esterification. Data are normalized to Rn18s and shown relative to the mean of controls. e Myofiber cholesterol content per mg protein in skeletal muscle. f Correlation between absolute maximal muscle force and muscle cholesterol content. Gray line and spread represent fit. Absolute maximal muscle force was previously quantified in the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle with ex vivo muscle force measurements [5] [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