Cytotoxicity of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and response of rat pulp to MTA and BMP-2

Objective. The aim of this study was to assess the cytotoxicity of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and the response of rat pulp tissue to MTA and BMP-2. Study design. For cytotoxicity studies, 1 g MTA was mixed with or without 1 mu g of BMP-2 and allowed to set for 1, 24, 48, or 72 hours before addition of samples to 2-mL aliquots of culture medium. The viability of MG-63 cells was determined using the dimethyl-thiazol-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. For animal studies, upper first molars from 32 Sprague-Dawley rats were used, the molars were exposed, and 1 g MTA cement was placed in the first molars. In left molars, 1 mu g BMP-2 was additionally placed on exposed pulps with MTA. After 2 weeks and 7 weeks, rats were killed and histologic sections assessed by light microscopy. Results. In MTT assay, the viability was higher in the MTA with BMP-2 group than in the MTA-only group up to 24 hours, but was not significantly different thereafter. In animal study, inflammation was higher in the MTA-only group than in the MTA with BMP group, although this difference did not attain statistical significance. Conclusions. The addition of BMP-2 had a beneficial effect in vitro, reducing the initial cytotoxicity of freshly mixed MTA. However, the pulp reaction to a combination of MTA and BMP-2 was not significantly better than use of MTA alone. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2010;109:e103-e108)