Fig. 2.

Metformin regulates pro-inflammatory cytokines in mice with scleroderma. a Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the presence of infiltrating lymphocytes and proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-17, and TGF-β, in skin tissue. Scale bars = 200 μm. b Splenocyte proinflammatory cytokines were detected by quantitative PCR. c Spleen tissue was stained with anti-CD4 and anti-IL-17 antibodies to identify Th17 cells. Arrows indicate the stained cells. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.005. Scale bars = 20 μm