Pyroptosis is a type of programmed lytic cell death that could be activated by 
either the canonical or noncanonical inflammasome pathway. In this study, we 
aimed to examine the effect of hypertonic solution on noncanonical pyroptosis in 
macrophage. We found that although hypertonic solution had a general inhibitory 
effect on noncanonical pyroptosis, the underlying mechanism varied by the solute 
causing hypertonicity. Specifically, hypertonic NaCl or KCl solution inhibited 
the cleavage of gasdermin D, the pore-forming protein in pyroptosis, whereas 
hypertonic saccharide solution did not affect the cleavage or membrane binding 
of gasdermin D. In this case, nevertheless, pyroptosis was still inhibited as 
evidenced by the preserved mitochondria activity and cell membrane permeability.