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Updated: Apr 1, 2026
Isolation and Culture of Primary Human Gingival Epithelial Cells using Y-27632
Published on: November 6, 2021
Enhanced Biological Behavior of In Vitro Human Gingival Fibroblasts on Cold Plasma-Treated Zirconia
Miao Zheng1, Yang Yang1, Xiao-Qiang Liu1
1Department of Prosthodontics, Peking University School of Stomatology, 22# Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081, People's Republic of China.
Objective:
To evaluate whether atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma treatment of zirconia enhances its biocompatibility with human gingival fibroblasts.
Materials And Methods:
The zirconia disks were divided into four groups and treated using helium atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier-discharge plasmas for 30, 60 or 90 s or left untreated. The surface morphology, wettability and chemical elements were analyzed. Fibroblasts density, morphology, morphometry and attachment-related genes expression were measured at different time points from 3 to 72 h.
Results:
After plasma treatment, the surface morphology and roughness remained the same, while the contact angle decreased from 78.31° to 43.71°, and the surface C/O ratio decreased from 3.17 to 0.89. The surficial areas and perimeters of HGFs were increased two-fold in the treated groups at 3 h. Fibroblasts density increased on treated disks at all time points, especially the ones treated for 60 s. Attachment-related genes in the groups treated for 30 and 60 s were significantly higher at 3 and 24 h.
Conclusion:
The helium atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma treatment enhances the biological behavior of fibroblasts on zirconia by increasing the expression of attachment-related genes within 24 h and promoting the cell density during longer culture times. Wettability of zirconia, an important physicochemical property, has a vital influence on the cell behaviors.
