Effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (ibuprofen) in low and high dose on stemness and biological characteristics of human dental pulp-derived mesenchymal stem cells

ABSTRACT

Purpose

The effect of ibuprofen, an NSAID, on biological characteristics such as proliferation, viability, DNA damage and cell cycle in dental pulp derived stem cells (DPSCs) can be important for regenerative medicine. Our aim is to investigate how low and high doses of ibuprofen affect stem cell characteristics in DPSCs.

Materials and methods

DPSCs were isolated from human teeth and characterized by flow cytometry and differentiation tests. Low dose (0.1 mmol/L) and high dose (3 mmol/L) ibuprofen were administered to DPSCs. Surface markers between groups were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. Membrane depolarization, DNA damage, viability and cell cycle analysis were performed between groups using biological activity test kits. Cellular proliferation was measured by the MTT and cell count kit. Statistical analyzes were performed using GraphPad Prism software.

Results

High dose ibuprofen significantly increased CD44 and CD73 expression in DPSCs. High-dose ibuprofen significantly reduced mitochondrial membrane depolarization in DPSCs. It was determined that DNA damage in DPSCs decreased significantly with high dose ibuprofen. Parallel to this, cell viability increased significantly in the ibuprofen applied groups. High-dose ibuprofen was found to increase mitotic activity in DPSCs. Proliferation in DPSCs increased in parallel with the increase in mitosis stage because of high-dose ibuprofen administration compared to the control and low-dose ibuprofen groups. Our proliferation findings appeared to support cell cycle analyses.

Conclusion

High dose ibuprofen improved the immunophenotypes and biological activities of DPSCs. The combination of ibuprofen in the use of DPSCs in regenerative medicine can make stem cell therapy more effective.

KEYWORDS:

• Dental pulp-derived stem cell
• ibuprofen
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• proliferation
• DNA damage

Acknowledgements

In this study, biological activity experiments were carried out in Erciyes University Genome and Stem Cell Center stem cell laboratory, and immunofluorescent staining analyzes were performed at Beykent University. The authors thank both institutions. The authors would like to thank Seyda KORKMAZ, a master student, who assisted in the experimental phases of the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.