TNF and otitis media with effusion: OME did not directly inhibit IL-1β or TNF-α transcription or translation; rather, it inhibited K+ efflux, thus inhibiting the nucleotide-oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome assembly and caspase-1 activation preventing the generation of mature IL-1β.