Fig. 6

β-hydroxybutyrate strengthened the progression of TGF-β-induced fibrosis via mTOR pathway in isolated cardiac fibroblasts. a Cardiac fibroblasts were incubated with β-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB) and TGF-β. Then the activation of mTOR and the expression of collagen were measured. The quantified results are shown in b–e. f–h The effects of co-stimuli of β-OHB and TGF-β in cardiac fibroblasts were blunted by the mTOR inhibitor Temsirolimus. i inhibition of mTOR with Temsirolimus suppressed β-OHB and TGF-β-induced proliferation in cardiac fibroblasts. Values are the mean ± SEM. n = 4–6 for each group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01