Figure 5.

The effect of ESS on cell viability and anti-inflammatory effects in HaCaT cells. The cell viability of HaCaT cells was assessed by (a) treating with various concentrations of ESS (0.625, 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 ppm) for 24 h and (b) pretreating with various concentrations of ESS (0.625, 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 ppm) for 1 h, followed by treatment with HaCaT 20 ng/mL for 24 h. Based on the cell viability result, the anti-inflammatory effects of ESS on c) IL-6, (d) COX-2, and (e) TNF-α mRNA expression were determined. The RT-PCR analysis for HaCaT cells was conducted in 6-well plates (0.8 × 10⁵ cells/well), with cells at 80% confluency pretreated with ESS (0.625, 1.25 ppm) for 1 h, followed by treatment with TNF-α 20 ng/mL for 24 h. The values presented are the mean ± SEM obtained from at least three independent experiments. Statistical significance is indicated as follows: ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, and *p < 0.05.