Evaluation of aloevera gel as a storage medium in maintaining the viability of periodontal ligament cells -An in vitro study

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of aloevera gel as a new storage medium in maintaining the viability of periodontal ligament cells. Study design: Premolars extracted for orthodontic reason were obtained. Confluent monolayers of fibroblasts were grown by cell culture method from the PDL cells isolated from the extracted teeth. One ml of this cell suspension was transferred to wells of culture plates, incubated for 24 hrs, followed by exposure to the three experimental media, Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS), aloevera gel, and packaged drinking water. These plates were then assessed for viable cells using trypan blue dye exclusion test with haemocytometer after 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 mins. The results obtained were statistically analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: At 15 min, HBSS presented maximum mean percentage of viable PDL cells (89%), followed by aloevera at 81% and packaged drinking water at 10%. Aloevera demonstrated 71%, 59%, 57% viable cells at 30, 60, 90 mins respectively. At 120 min, HBSS presented 57% viable cells followed by aloevera gel (45%) and packaged drinking water (3%). No statistical significant difference was observed between HBSS and aloevera gel. Conclusions: Within the parameters of this study, both aloevera gel and HBSS were effective in maintaining the viability of PDL cells. Hence, aloevera gel could be used as a storage media for avulsed tooth in situations where availability of HBSS is in question.