Objective: dental monomers, such as 2-hydroxylethyl methacrylate (HEMA), are well known to be cytotoxic, although the mechanism is not well understood. Necrosis and apoptosis, or programmed cell death, are the two basic mechanisms for cell death. Apoptosis could play a key role in dental monomer toxicity at sub-lethal concentrations. Here, we quantified the ability of HEMA to induce apoptosis in primary human skin fibroblasts. Methods: human skin fibroblast cultures were grown in DMEM supplemented with 10% FCS. HEMA was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (1mol/L stock solution), and then serially diluted in culture medium. The cells were exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of HEMA (0 - 8 mmol/L) for 24 h. Untreated cells and treated cells, were stained with annexin V-FITC and propidium iodure (PI), and analysed by flow cytometry (FACScan, BD). Early apoptotic cells (stained with annexin V-FITC) and late apoptotic cells (stained with both PI and annexin V-FITC) were detected and quantified as a percentage of the entire population (n=5). Results: The percentage of apoptotic cells progressively increased from the lowest to the highest HEMA concentration tested, with a minimum of 4.3 ± 0.7 % in the control and a maximum of 43.0 ± 11.0 % in cell cultures treated with 8 mmol/l HEMA. Conclusions: Results suggest that apoptosis may be an important mechanism in dental monomers toxicity.

Back to the Dental Materials: VIII - Others-Non-metallic Program
Back to the 81st General Session of the International Association for Dental Research (June 25-28, 2003)

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