However, the increase in TEER from cells with TNFα removal was not sufficient enough for a significant difference to the cells without the removal of the cytokine, but was close to being statistically significant (one-way ANOVA: F (2,26) = 6.64, p = 0.0047, n = 7–13; TNFα w/o Recovery: 77.36 ± 11.41%; TNFα w/ Recovery: 115.88 ± 15.65%; p = 0.076).
While the expression of claudin-1 was also notably higher with TNFα and ML-7 compared to cells treated only with TNFα, just a tendency towards significance could be shown (one-way ANOVA: F (2,9) = 5.30, p = 0.03, n = 4; TNFα: 69.34 ± 5.08%; TNFα + ML-7: 94.31 ± 11.17%, p = 0.079).
As already assumed, the use of TNFα showed a highly significant decrease in TEER, as well as an elevation in paracellular permeability to [3H]-D-Mannitol, both representing epithelial barrier function.