Attachment and Proliferation of Human Osteoblast-like Cells on Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) Membranes in the Absence or Presence of Nicotine: An In Vitro Study

Purpose: To compare in vitro the attachment and proliferation of human osteoblast-like cells (MG63) on tissue culture plates and guided bone regeneration (GBR) membranes in the absence or presence of nicotine. Materials and Methods: Membrane samples were fixed to wells and the cell number (CN) was counted after 24 hours (attachment assay) or 5 days (proliferation assay). The ratio of cell count (RCC) (CN at 5 days/CN at 24 hours) was calculated. The study had three parts: First, five different resorbable GBR membranes were compared (Resolut Adapt LT [RALT], Biocollagen [BC], Bio-Gide [BG], OsseoGuard [OG], and Demokritos Human Tissue Bank [DEM]). Next, cells were cultured on tissue culture plates with five different concentrations of nicotine. Finally, cells were cultured on the membrane that had demonstrated the highest RCC and CN in part 1 with four different concentrations of nicotine. Results: At 24 hours, BG showed the highest CN and OG showed the lowest CN. At 5 days, BG showed the highest CN. The order of RCC was BG > OG > DEM > RALT ~ BC. At 24 hours, lower nicotine concentrations (0.3 and 3 µg/mL) showed higher CNs versus the control, whereas CNs for high nicotine concentrations (30 and 300 µg/mL) were lower than for the control. CN at 5 days and RCC were lowest with 300 µg/mL nicotine. At 24 hours and 5 days, all differences among wells with membrane were statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, CN at 5 days and RCC were highest with the lowest nicotine concentration (3 µg/mL) and lowest with high concentrations. Conclusions: Membrane materials influence attachment and proliferation of bone cells and, therefore, could affect the outcomes of GBR. On both tissue culture plates and membranes, there is a tendency toward a biphasic effect of nicotine, with stimulatory effects at low concentrations and inhibitory effects at high concentrations. Keywords: cell attachment, cell proliferation, guided bone regeneration, membrane, nicotine, osteoblast