Effect of plain and liposomal articaine on human epithelial cells

Effect of plain and liposomal articaine on human epithelial cells.

Recent in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated the cytotoxic effects of local anesthetics in many cells. Objective: To observe the in vitro effects of plain or liposomal articaine formulations in human epithelial cells viability in culture. Methods: Human epithelial cells (HaCaT) were grown in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated FBS and 50 µg/mL gentamicin. Cells were exposed to 4% articaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine (G1); 2% articaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine (G2); and 4% articaine encapsulate in unilamellar liposomes (G3). The cell viability was measured by XTT method after the cells were exposed for 6h and 24h, comparing them to the untreated control cells (Control). Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA and Tukey tests (alpha=5%). Results: In the first six hours of exposure all formulations tested showed marked cytotoxicity (Control = 99.7±13.15%; G1 = 26.2±11.5%; G2 = 53.67±9.7%; G3 = 26.2±11.5%), being the cell number significantly lower than the non-exposed ones (p<0.05). After 24 hours, a high cytotoxicity (p<0.05) was verified in cells exposed to liposomal 4% articaine (19±12.3%) and 4% articaine associated with epinephrine (12±7.9%) than in the non-exposed cells (101±26%). The formulation of 2% articaine with epinephrine (76.7±16.8%) did not showed statistically significant differences (p>0.05) with the non-exposed cells. Conclusion: Articaine showed a concentration-dependent cytotoxic effect on human epithelial cells. The liposomal encapsulation was not able to reduce significantly the cell death.

Apoio: Fapesp #2006/00121-9 and #2011/02486-2