Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Isolation and In vitro Culture of Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages for the Study of NO-Redox Biology
Published on: May 31, 2022
Endodontic chelators induce nitric oxide expression by murine-cultured macrophages
Fernanda Geraldes Pappen1, Erick Miranda Souza, Luciano Giardino
1Department of Semiology and Clinics, School of Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil. ferpappen@yahoo.com.br
Introduction:
Endodontic chelators may extrude to apical tissues during instrumentation activating cellular events on periapical tissues. This study assessed in vitro the expression of nitric oxide (NO) concentrations by murine peritoneal macrophages after contact with MTAD (Dentsply/Tulsa, Tulsa, OK), Tetraclean (Ogna Laboratori Farmaceutici, Muggio, Italy), Smear Clear (Sybron Endo, Orange, CA), and EDTA (Biodinâmica, Ibiporã, PR, Brazil).
Methods:
Macrophage cells were obtained from Swiss mice after peritoneal lavage. Chelators were diluted in distilled water obtaining 12 concentrations, and MTT assay identified the concentrations, per group, displaying the highest cell viability (analysis of variance, p < 0.01). Selected concentrations were tested for NO expression using Griess reaction. Culture medium and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were used as controls.
Results:
Analysis of variance and Tukey tests showed that all chelators displayed elevated NO concentrations compared with the negative control (p < 0.01). MTAD induced the lowest NO expression, followed by Tetraclean, EDTA, and Smear Clear. No difference was observed between MTAD and Tetraclean (p > 0.01), Tetraclean and EDTA (p > 0.01), and EDTA and Smear Clear (p > 0.01). LPS ranked similar to both EDTA and Smear Clear (p > 0.01).
Conclusion:
The tested endodontic chelators displayed severe proinflammatory effects on murine-cultured macrophages. Citric acid-based solutions induce lower NO release than EDTA-based irrigants.
