Figure 5.

HB treatment immediately upregulated MMP-9 expression and reduced collagen 1 alpha expression.

Notes: (A) Collagen 1 alpha gene expression was downregulated after H₂O₂ treatment and further decreased in cells that had been pretreated with HB, with a significant difference between the groups at 24 h following H₂O₂ treatment. (B) Conversely, MMP-9 expression was unaffected by H₂O₂ alone, but it tended to be increased in the presence of HB (significant at 24 h). Data were normalized on GAPDH expression; untreated cells (not treated with HB or H₂O₂) were used as a control to determine the relative quantification. Statistical analysis: one-way ANOVA (n = 3). Significantly different from H₂O₂ (*p < 0.05).

Abbreviations: HB, hyaluronic acid and butyric acid; ANOVA, analysis of variance.