Cytotoxicity of Different Degrees of De-Acetylated Chitosan on 3T3- and Two Human Tooth Fibroblast Cell-Lines

Nowadays chitosan becomes more and more important as a drug carrier. In this study the influence of different degrees of de-acetylation of chitosan on the cytotoxicity were investigated. Materials and Methods: Chitosan (87%, 70% and 40% de-acetylated) was analysed for their cytotoxic effect on mouse Balb/c 3T3 fibroblast cells as well as two different human tooth pulp fibroblast cell-lines. The cell survival rate was determined over a 24 hour period according to the standard MTT assay. Results: The Univariate ANOVA test showed significant differences in the cell survival rates (p<0.01) amongst 87% and 70% and 40% de-acetylated chitosan products for the 3T3 as well as the two pulp fibroblast cell-lines. Significant differences were also found between both tooth cell-lines and the 3T3 cell-line at all 3 different deacetylated chitosan levels. The 3T3 cell line was mostly affected at 40% de-acetylation. The difference between both human cell-lines was not significant. Conclusion: The lower the degree of chitosan de-acetylation the less the cell survival rate while an 87% deacetylation degree improved the cell survival rate. Different cell lines react differently towards different degrees of de-acetylation. The relative survival rates of different cell lines changed at different degrees of de-acetylation.