title: The efficacy of Salvadora persica extracts in preserving the viability of human foreskin fibroblasts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of Salvadora persica hexane and ethanol extracts in preserving the viability of human foreskin fibroblasts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Normal human foreskin cells were cultivated in Dulbecco modified Minimum Essential Medium (D-MEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 2 mM of l-glutamine. Cell pellets were suspended in the following test solutions: (1) Hank's Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS); (2) homogenized milk; (3) hexane extract of S. persica; or (4) ethanol extract of S. persica. D-MEM with no serum was used as a positive control. For each condition, cell count was adjusted to 8 × 10(5) cells/ml, and the cells were incubated in the solutions for either 30, 60, or 120 min. Subsequently, the nonviable cells were separated from the viable cells using the trypan blue dye stain. The ratio of viable to nonviable cells was recorded using a cell counter. Statistical analysis of the data was accomplished by one-way analysis of variance using SPSS Version 16. The level of significance was 5% (p < .05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We did not detect a significant difference when comparing the percentage of viable cells in test solutions at the three incubation periods (30 min, p = 0.478; 60 min, p = 0.606; 120 min, p = 0.091). Homogenized milk preserved the viability of foreskin fibroblasts better than all other tested solutions. Incubation of cells in S. persica hexane and ethanol extracts resulted in a similar percentage of viable cells to incubation of cells in HBSS for each incubation period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  S. persica hexane and ethanol extracts should be considered an alternative storage medium to HBSS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Restorative Dental Science, Division of Endodontics, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hanan Abdul Ghafour
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Balto
authors.affiliation: Dental Caries Research Chair, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hassan Suliman
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Halawany
authors.affiliation: Dental Caries Research Chair, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Vimal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Dental Caries Research Chair, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Nimmi Biju
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Abraham
keywords: Avulsion; Cell viability; Fibroblasts; Human foreskin fibroblasts; Storage medium