Effect of diclofenac sodium and dexamethasone on cultured human Tenon's capsule fibroblasts

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of diclofenac sodium an d dexamethasone on cultured human Tenon's capsule fibroblasts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two experiments were conducted. In the first experim ent, fibroblasts were treated with either diclofenac sodium or dexamethason e at different concentrations, and the cell growth was quantified by using Coulter counter and hexosaminidase methods at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days ati-er ad ding the drugs. In the second experiment, the cells were treated with each drug for 24 hours and then the cultures were switched to a drug-free medium . The cell growth was quantified at day 7 after removing the drugs from the medium. RESULTS: In the first experiment, inhibition of fibroblast growth in a dose -dependent manner was observed from days 1 to 7 in the cultures treated wit h each drug. The inhibitory was more pronounced in the diclofenac treated c ultures. The typical spindle-shaped fibroblasts treated with higher concent rations of the drugs became spherical cells. In the second experiment, inhi bition was not observed when the cultures were switched to a drug free medi um. The spherical cells recovered to spindle-shaped cells and proliferated as normal cells. CONCLUSION: Our results have shown that diclofenac sodium and dexamethasone can significantly inhibit human Tenon's capsule fibroblast growth in a cel l culture model. The inhibitory effect was not observed when the cultures w ere switched after 24 hours to a drug-free culture medium.