Cytotoxicity of chlorhexidine and neem extract on cultured human gingival fibroblasts through fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis : An study.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the influence of chlorhexidine (CHX), neem vehicle control (NVC), and neem extract (NE) on cultured human gingival fibroblasts (hGFs) using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fibroblasts were derived from healthy gingival biopsy specimens harvested aseptically. The effects of CHX, NVC, and NE were evaluated on cultured hGFs through FACS and MTT assay.

RESULTS

MTT assay with hGFs indicated altered morphology with maximum cell death at 10% CHX, while NVC and NE showed similar results at a concentration of 75% and above. On FACS analysis, beyond 1%, CHX adversely affected the cell cycle phase distribution whereas NE exerted a detrimental effect only at 100%. Moreover, both with NVC and NE cells were well differentiated in all the three phases of the cell cycle, with distinction getting lost at 50% to finally causing cell death at 100%.

CONCLUSIONS

CHX beyond 1% concentration exhibited a toxic effect on hGFs at 1, 5, and 15 min time exposure. However, NE did not adversely affect the fibroblasts even up to 50% concentration showing a less toxic effect in comparison with CHX on these cells. The cytoprotective and oral friendly quality of NE emphaisze the superiority of NE over CHX.