Effect of antioxidant lycopene on human osteoblasts

Objective The aim of this in vitro study is to evaluate the effect of antioxidant lycopene on human osteoblasts. Material and method 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 degrees 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. Results MTT assay showed that the doses between 10(-5) and 1 mu mol of lycopene had dose-dependent proliferative effects. The doses between 10(-5) and 10(-1) mu mol were most effective at 72 h. Lycopene accelerates the healing rate by increasing osteoblast proliferation. Conclusion 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.