Ultrastructural changes in human gingival fibroblasts in vitro after exposure to vapour phase smoke components

Tobacco and some of its volatile and non-volatile components have been foun d to affect many types of cells including gingival fibroblasts. Because nor mal gingival fibroblast functioning is fundamental to the maintenance of th e oral connective tissue as well as to wound healing, we examined the effec t of two vapour phase smoke components (acrolein and acetaldehyde) on proli feration and ultrastructure of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) in culture . A human gingival fibroblast strain derived from healthy individuals was u sed in this study. The cells were incubated in the presence of different co ncentrations of acrolein and acetaldehyde and cell proliferation and fine m orphology were evaluated. The results show that acrolein and acetaldehyde p roduced dose dependent inhibition of HGF viability and alteration of cytopl asmic organelles. The main ultrastructural finding for the HGF cytoplasm wa s the presence of vacuoles and lysosomal structures which became prominent with increasing concentration of acrolein and acetaldehyde. Our results sug gest that the ultrastructural alterations we observed in HGFs may be due to the uptake and storage of acrolein and acetaldehyde by the cells.