Cytotoxic effects of chlorhexidine and nystatin on cultured hamster buccal epithelial cells

Abstract

Primary cultures of hamster buccal epithelial cell were used in this study to investigate the potential cytotoxicity of chlorhexidine and nystatin. Following exposure to 0–0.01% of chlorhexidine for 5–60 min, or following exposure to either nystatin suspension or solution ranging from 0–0.1% for 1 h, the viability of hamster buccal epithelial cells was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethyl–2-thiazoyl)-2, 5-diphenyl-2 H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) hydrolysis and colony-forming efficiency. Chlorhexidine digluconate at concentrations greater than 0.005% was cytotoxic to the cells after a 1 h incubation. However, a 5 min contact with this drug did not cause significant effects when the concentration was less than 0.01%. A linear decrease in survival rate was observed when the cells were exposed to 100–200 μg/ml (0.01–0.02%) of nystatin solution. The inhibition of colony-forming efficiency by a nystatin suspension (ID 50 = 634 μg/ ml) was 8.3-fold lower than that of a nystatin solution (ID 50 = 76 μg/ ml). Results of this study suggested that buccal epithelial cells were relatively more resistant to toxic effects of chlorhexidine and nystatin than other cell types.