Effect of Hydrogen Peroxide on Collagen

Abstract

Americans spend billions of dollars every year on teeth whitening products including whitening strips; the active ingredient is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Collagen accounts for 95% of the protein found in the dentin layer of teeth, which lies beneath the enamel. Previous research done in our laboratory has indicated that treatment of teeth with over‐the‐counter whitening strips results in reduced amounts of collagen and hydroxyproline. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS PAGE) was used on collagen extracted from teeth. For the untreated teeth, the extracted collagen showed the expected molecular weights (MW) on SDS PAGE but these bands were absent for the collagen extracted from treated teeth. For this reason, pure Type I collagen was used and treated either with water or with H2O2 for an hour before pepsin was added. Our results indicate that pre‐treatment of Type I collagen with low concentrations of H2O2 produced a lack of bands at the expected MW for collagen and these bands were present in collagen treated with water. This effect was seen as soon as 10 minutes after H2O2 was added. The impact of adding the protease pepsin was further assessed. These results suggest that hydrogen peroxide, even at the concentration used in the whitening strip, can damage the collagen in the dentin provided that the H2O2 can penetrate to the dentin in the teeth. This work was supported by Research and Professional Development Grant from Stockton University.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.