Effect of antioxidant lycopene on human osteoblasts.

Objective: The aim of this in vitro study is to evaluate the effect of antioxidant lycopene on human osteoblasts.

Material And Method: The human osteoblast cell line (CRL-11372) was obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC Manassas, Va) and grown in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), penicillin (100 U/ml), and streptomycin (100 mg/ ml) at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO and 95% air. The effective dose of lycopene was determined by MTT assay and a real-time cell analysis (RTCA) system. Proliferative effects were analyzed by in vitro wound healing model. Gene expressions of type 1 collagen (COL1A1), osteocalcin (OCN), and growth differentiation factor-5 (GDF-5) were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) at 72 h. Statistical differences between test groups were analyzed with a one-way ANOVA test.

Results: MTT assay showed that the doses between 10 and 1 µmol of lycopene had dose-dependent proliferative effects. The doses between 10 and 10 µmol were most effective at 72 h. Lycopene accelerates the healing rate by increasing osteoblast proliferation.

Conclusion: Results suggested that lycopene had proliferative effects on human osteoblasts, which may help to increase bone regeneration, and thus, it can be useful in tissue engineering procedures.

Clinical Relevance: By the help of antioxidants like lycopene capacity, velocity and quality of new bone forming may be increased in periodontal and dental implant treatments.