This protective effect has also been demonstrated in several studies with caffeine; Zhao et al. in an in vitro study found that caffeine reduced NLRP3 inflammasome activation, essential for BPD pathogenesis, and also caspase 1 cleavage leading to decreased IL-1β and IL-18 secretion in THP-1 macrophages (28). Here, NLRP3 is linked to bronchopulmonary dysplasia.