The Direct Cytotoxic Effects of Different Hemostatic Agents on Human Gingival Fibroblasts.

Purpose To evaluate the cytotoxic effects of different hemostatic agents (including Expasyl) on human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) in vitro. Materials and Methods HGFs were cultured and exposed to either no medicament treatment or 1:200 dilution of six different hemostatic agents (Hemox-A, Hemodent, Astringedent, Vicostat, Expasyl, 3M ESPE) for 2, 5, 10 minutes, 1 hour, and 24 hours. Toxicity to HGFs was determined by lactate dehydrogenase activity (LDH) and colorimetric (WST-1) assays. Two-tailed t-test was used for statistical analyses with alpha level set at 0.05. Results The group-by-time interactions were significant for the LDH and WST-1 assays (p < 0.001). Evaluation of the cytotoxic effect of different hemostatic agents at different incubation time intervals on the cell membrane damage revealed that Astringedent showed the highest cytotoxic effect on HGFs compared to other agents with regards to untreated negative control cells at all incubation time intervals (p < 0.001). On the other hand, Expasyl showed the least cytotoxic effect with significant differences at 5 minutes and 1 hour (p < 0.001) in comparison to other agents. Conclusions LDH and WST-1 assays of hemostatic agents showed significant cytotoxic effect on HGFs at different time intervals. The data suggest that the risk for permanent tissue damage might be less significant when Expasyl is used during final impression procedure compared to when Astringedent is used.