Does Nimodipine, a Selective Calcium Channel Blocker, Impair Chondrocyte Proliferation or Damage Extracellular Matrix Structures?

BACKGROUND

The study aimed to investigate the effects of the active ingredient, nimodipine, on chondrocyte proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) structures in cartilage tissue cells.

METHODS

Chondrocyte cultures were prepared from tissues resected via surgical operations. Nimodipine was then applied to these cultures and molecular analysis was performed. The data obtained were statistically calculated.

RESULTS

Both, the results of the (3-(4,5 dimethylthiazol2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) assay and the fluorescence microscope analysis [a membrane permeability test carried out with acridine orange/ propidium iodide staining (AO/PI)] confirmed that the active ingredient, nimodipine, negatively affects the cell cultures.

CONCLUSION

Nimodipine was reported to suppress cellular proliferation; chondroadherin (CHAD) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) expression thus decreased by 2.4 and 1.7 times, respectively, at 24 hrs when compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, type II collagen (COL2A1) expression was not detected (p < 0.05). The risk that a drug prescribed by a clinician in an innocuous manner to treat a patient by relieving the symptoms of a disease may affect the proliferation, differentiation, and viability of other cells and/or tissues at the molecular level, beyond its known side effects or adverse events, should not be forgotten.