Induced DNA damage by dental resin monomers in somatic cells

The present in vivo study investigated the genotoxicity of four dental resin monomers: triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (TEGDMA), hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA), urethanedimethacrylate (UDMA) and bisphenol A-glycidylmethacrylate (BisGMA). The Somatic Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART) in Drosophila melanogaster was applied to analyse their genotoxicity expressed as homologous mitotic recombination, point and chromosomal mutation. SMART detects the loss of heterozygosity of marker genes expressed phenotypically on the fly's wings. This fruit fly has an extensive genetic homology to mammalians, which makes it a suitable model organism for genotoxic investigations. The present findings provide evidence that the mechanistic basis underlying the genotoxicity of UDMA and TEGDMA is related to homologous recombination and gene/chromosomal mutation. A genotoxic pattern can correspondingly be discerned for both UDMA and TEGDMA: their genotoxicity is attributed respectively to 49% and 44% of mitotic recombination, as well as 51% and 56% of mutational events, including point and chromosomal alterations. The monomer UDMA is 1.6 times more active than TEGDMA to induce mutant clones per treatment unit. BisGMA and HEMA had no statistically significant effect on total spot frequencies - suggesting no genotoxic action in the SMART assay. The clinical significance of these observations has to be interpreted for data obtained in other bioassays.