Human dental pulp cells response to mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and MTA Plus: cytotoxicity and gene expression analysis

Aim To investigate the cytotoxicity, osteogenic bioactivity and mRNA expression of osteogenic markers of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP‐2), osteocalcin (OC) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) induced by the extracts of set MTA Plus (MTA P) (Avalon Biomed Inc. Bradenton, FL, USA) in comparison with MTA (Angelus, Londrina, PR, Brazil) on human dental pulp cells (hDPCs). Methodology Cell viability was assessed by mitochondrial dehydrogenase enzymatic (MTT) assay, and the mechanism of cell death was evaluated by flow cytometry. Bioactivity was evaluated by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay and detection of calcium deposits with alizarin red staining (ARS). The gene expression of BMP‐2, OC and ALP was quantified with real‐time PCR. Statistical analysis was performed with analysis of variance and Bonferroni or Tukey post‐test (α = 0.05). Results MTA and MTA P were not cytotoxic and did not induce apoptosis. MTA P had significant higher ALP activity in relation to MTA and the control (P