While the study offers robust insights into the physiological effects of liquid application, the limited sample size (n=3 donors for most experiments) raises concerns about the representativeness of the findings. Individual donor variability in gene expression, cytokine secretion, and TEER measurements could significantly affect the observed outcomes, yet this variability is not discussed in detail.
Could the authors clarify how donor-specific differences were accounted for in the analysis? Were any measures, such as pooling donor data or conducting sensitivity analyses, taken to mitigate the impact of individual variability on the study’s conclusions?