(A) NF-κB activation by methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MCD) (a) and statins (b) using RAW blue macrophages. Reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) of Il1b (c) and Tnfa (d) in RAW 264.7 cells with or without MCD (5 mM; 1 hr), or with or without (10 µM compactin + 200 µM mevalonate; 2 days). Effect of NF-κB inhibitors (MG-132 [5 µM] and BAY11-7082 [10 µM]) on Il1b (e) and Tnfa (f) expression in MCD-treated RAW 264.7 macrophages. (B) The gene expression activated by MCD, statin, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). RT-qPCR of Il1b (a) and Tnfa (b) in RAW 264.7 cells with or without MCD (5 mM; 1 hr), simvastatin (10 + 200 µM mevalonate; 2 days) or LPS (100 ng/ml; 3 hr). Graphs are representative of 3 independent experiments with 3 replicates per condition and are presented as means ± standard deviation (SD). Statistical analysis was performed using unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t-test. An asterisk (*) indicates a significant difference with p < 0.05. A hashtag (#) indicates a significant difference between MCD without or with inhibitors with p < 0.05.