Effect of antioxidant lycopene on human osteoblasts

The aim of this in vitro study is to evaluate the effect of antioxidant lycopene on human osteoblasts.

The human osteoblast cell line (CRL-11372) was obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC Manassas, Va) and grown in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), penicillin (100 U/ml), and streptomycin (100 mg/ ml) at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO² and 95% air. The effective dose of lycopene was determined by MTT assay and a real-time cell analysis (RTCA) system. Proliferative effects were analyzed by in vitro wound healing model. Gene expressions of type 1 collagen (COL1A1), osteocalcin (OCN), and growth differentiation factor-5 (GDF-5) were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) at 72 h. Statistical differences between test groups were analyzed with a one-way ANOVA test.

MTT assay showed that the doses between 10^-5 and 1 µmol of lycopene had dose-dependent proliferative effects. The doses between 10^-5 and 10^-1 µmol were most effective at 72 h. Lycopene accelerates the healing rate by increasing osteoblast proliferation.

Results suggested that lycopene had proliferative effects on human osteoblasts, which may help to increase bone regeneration, and thus, it can be useful in tissue engineering procedures.

By the help of antioxidants like lycopene capacity, velocity and quality of new bone forming may be increased in periodontal and dental implant treatments.