Figure 3 Sodium ferulate (SF) inhibited the proliferation of fibroblasts and the expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), neutrophil alkaline phosphatase 3 (NALP3), collagen-1, alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and phosphorylated p38 (p-p38) and p38 proteins. (A) The effect of SF on viability of fibroblasts was detected by Cell Counting Kit (CCK)-8 assay. (B) The effect of SF on proliferation of fibroblasts was observed by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunofluorescence staining (magnification×100, scale bars=50 μm). (C–J) The effect of SF on the expression of TGF-β1, NALP3, collagen-1, α-SMA, p-p38 and p38 proteins, and the ratio of p-p38/p38 in fibroblasts was detected by western blot. (K, L) The detection of caspase-1 and IL-1β levels was performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Expression levels were normalized with GAPDH. All experiments were performed in triplicate, and data are expressed as mean±standard deviation (SD). * P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001 vs control group.