Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Polymeric Biomaterials Containing Nitric Oxide Donors Using the Kidney Epithelial Cell Line (Vero)

Nitric oxide (NO) is a small diatomic molecule, endogenously produced, and plays important roles in many vital biological processes including angiogenesis, antioxidant/antitumor/antimicrobial actions and tissues regeneration such as skin, cartilage and bone. For being a free radical, NO is relatively instable in biologic system and it can be rapidly inactivated. Among then, the S-nitrosothiols (RSNOs) are prominent, which spontaneously decompose releasing NO. The combination of RSNOs and biomaterials represent a promising strategy to increase the therapeutic efficiency of these NO donors. In this way, the main objective of this study was to evaluated cytotoxicity of thermosensitive poloxamer/hyaluronic acid hydrogels (PL/HA) and chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs) containing NO donors (RSNOs), using the kidney cells of African green monkey (Vero). The results obtained by quantitative MTT assays showed cell viability dependent on the concentrations of SNAC and polymeric biomaterials. Thus, these results point the in vitro biocompatibility of PL/HA and CS NPs systems containing NO donors and their possible application in bone tissue regeneration and also contribute to studies using Vero cells.