"the study of dose-response mitogenic effect of l-dopa on the human periodontal ligament fibroblast cells"

avulsion is one of the most serious emergencies in dental office. in the event of any problem, the tooth should be stored in a medium that supports the periodontal ligament cell viability. in other clinical situations, preserving media, growth factors and mitogenic products may be useful in repairing the traumatized tissues. it has been previously reported that levodopa (l-dopa) accelerates healing by increasing the growth hormone level. in this study, the local effect of l-dopa, as a mitogen, on human periodontal ligament fibroblast (hplf) cells was evaluated. samples from impacted or semiimpacted wisdom or canine teeth, which were devoid of inflammation, were taken. the cells obtained from this tissue were cultured in an appropriate medium. the passage numbers between 3-6 were taken for further experiments. the viability of hplf cells, which were treated by l-dopa, was evaluated by trypan blue dye exclusion and neutral red assay. results indicated that low concentration of l-dopa produces significant increase of these cells compared to control group. these results confirmed previous studies about direct action of l- dopa on the viability of hplf cells. on the basis of this study and previous reports, presence of l-dopa in preserving media may be useful in increasing the self-life transferring hplf cells.