Figure 2.

Empagliflozin downregulates pro-fibrogenic markers and decreases proliferation in LX-2 cells. (a) Collagen 1 α1, α-SMA, fibronectin, and cTGF were assayed by Western blotting using specific antibodies. The maximum control phosphoprotein intensity was set to 100%, and relative test intensities were calculated. (b) The relative expression of α-SMA, Collagen 1 α1, and TGF-β was determined via real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). (c) The cell proliferation marker, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), was determined via RT-PCR. Data are expressed as means ± standard deviation of three independent experiments. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, and *** p < 0.001 compared to the control.