Studies Regarding the Cytotoxicity of Antimicrobial Gels Formulated with Natural Biopolymers

Abstract

Two antimicrobial gels, formulated with natural biopolymers (collagen and chitosan), limonene, and an imidazole derivative, were subjected to cytotoxicity tests. In these two compositions, the limonene content was 0.4% and 0.67%. The cytotoxicity tests were performed in vitro, using MTT methodology, and a standardized human normal cells line, HUVEC type. These cells were exposed to different levels of gel concentrations in the culture media. The final concentration of each gel type in culture media was situated between (0-0.125) μL/mL. The cell viability was determined after 24, 48 and 72h of exposure. The analyses showed that after 24h of exposure, the viability of the cells is greater than 91%, after 48h the viability is greater than 80%; after 72 h of exposure, the viability of the cells is greater than 74%. These values reveal that both selected gels exhibit no cytotoxicity for the normal cell line.