Effects of AEDKC on intracellular calcium and mast cell degranulation. (A) RBL-2H3 cells (6 × 104/well) were pretreated with or without AEDKC for 12 h and then incubated with 1 mg/mL MTT for 2 h. The absorbance intensity was measured using a spectrophotometer. (B,C) RBL-2H3 cells (5 × 105/well) and RPMCs (2 × 104/well) were sensitized with anti-DNP IgE (50 ng/mL). After overnight incubation, the cells were pretreated with or without drugs, including AEDKC and Dexa, for 1 h, and then challenged with DNP-HSA (100 ng/mL). (D) The level of β-hexosaminidase was measured using β-hexosaminidase substrate buffer. RBL-2H3 cells (6 × 104/well) were sensitized with anti-DNP IgE. (E) After overnight anti-DNP IgE incubation, cells were incubated with Fluo-3/AM for 1 h, treated with or without AEDKC for 1 h, and then challenged with DNP-HSA. Intracellular calcium was detected using a fluorescent plate reader. BAPTA-AM, a calcium chelator, was used as the positive control. Graph data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05 compared with the DNP-HSA-challenged group. Dexa: dexamethasone.