Effects of grape seed proanthocyanidins on the expression of inflammatory mediators in gingival epithelial cells.

Objectives: This study aims to determine the effect of grape seed proanthocyanidin (GSP) pretreatment on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation of human gingival epithelial cells (HGECs).

Methods: HGECs were cultivated with different concentrations of GSPs (0, 1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 μg·mL) for 6, 12, 24, and 48 h. CCK-8 was used to detect the proliferation activity of HGECs. HGECs were treated with different concentrations of GSPs (0, 10, 20, and 40 μg·mL) for 24 h and then cultured with 1.0 μg·mL LPS. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 and anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4, IL-10, and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-4, IL-10, and TGF-β.

Results: When the GSP concentration was 0-40 μg·mL, the cell proliferation had no significant difference. When the action time reached 24 h, the cell proliferation was the highest. The results of ELISA and QRT-PCR showed that 10, 20, and 40 μg·mL GSPS decreased the expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 (<0.05) and increased the expression levels of IL-4, IL-10, and TGF-β compared with 0 μg·mL GSPS (<0.05).

Conclusions: GSPS (0-40 μg·mL) has no significant effect on the proliferation activity of HGECs. Pretreatment with GSPS can inhibit the expression of pro-inflammatory factors and enhance the expression of anti-inflammatory factors. Hence, GSPS has a certain preventive effect on the resistance of HGECs to the stimulation of endotoxin.