The effect of the bleaching agent sodium perborate on macrophage adhesion in vitro: implications in external cervical...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro effect of sodium perborate, which is used as a bleaching agent in the treatment of discolored pulpless teeth, on substrate adherence capacity of macrophages. Inflammatory macrophages were obtained from Wistar rats and resuspended in RPMI-1640 medium. As a test of macrophage adhesion, the adherence capacity of macrophages to a plastic surface was determined. Assays were conducted in Eppendorf tubes for 15 min of incubation at 37 degrees C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2. The adherence index was calculated. Results showed that sodium perborate decreased in a dose-dependent manner and decreased significantly (p < 0.05) the adherence index of rat peritoneal macrophages. Sodium perborate was less potent than sodium hypochlorite and eugenol in inhibiting macrophage adhesion. The inhibitory effect of sodium perborate on macrophage adhesion further supports the concept that this agent is not implicated in external cervical root resorption associated with intracoronal bleaching.