Fig. 1

Metformin treatment decreases the stiffness of tissue in BLM-induced mice. a The back-skin morphology of mice with BLM-induced scleroderma in each group is shown. b mRNA expression of fibrosis markers in skin tissue was measured. c H&E staining and MT images reveal the therapeutic effects of metformin in mouse skin and lung tissue. White arrows indicate skin thickness (H&E) and cutaneous fibrosis (MT). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.005. Scale bars = 200 μm