Biocompatibility of gutta-percha solvents using in vitro mammalian test-system

ObjectivesTaking into consideration that DNA damage and cellular death play important roles during carcinogenesis, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate in vitro genotoxic or cytotoxic effects of chloroform and eucalyptol by single cell gel (comet) assay and trypan blue exclusion test, respectively.Study designChloroform and eucalyptol were exposed to Chinese hamster ovary cells in culture directly for 3 hours at 37°C at final concentrations ranging from 1.25 to 10 μL/mL. The negative control group was treated with vehicle control (phosphate-buffered solution), and the positive control group was treated with methyl metasulfonate (MMS, at 1 μg/mL concentration). All data were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test followed by the Dunn test.ResultsThe results showed that both gutta-percha solvents were cytotoxic at concentrations of 2.5, 5, and 10 μL/mL (P < .05). On the other hand, both solvents did not induce DNA breakage at 1.25 μL/mL concentration.ConclusionsThese results suggest that both chloroform or eucalyptol are strong cytotoxicants, but they may not be a factor that increases the level of DNA lesions in mammalian cells.