Effects of Tin Compounds on Human Chondrogenic Activity In Vitro

摘要

Organotin compounds, particularly tributyltin chloride (TBT) and dibutyltin dichloride (DBT), are widely distributed toxicants. They inhibit cell proliferation and are known to cause neurotoxicity and genotoxicity in animals and humans. DBT is used asa catalyst in biodegradable polymers. We evaluated the effects of TBT and DBT on chondrogenesis of human articular chondrocytes (HAC) under a micromass culture system. In 4 weeks of culture, the lowest dose of TBT caused an increase in cell proliferation and differentiation. When the dose was increased, its effect on cultured chondrocytes was inhibitory compared with the control cultures. DBT produced little change in cell proliferation but it significantly inhibited cell differentiation compared withthe control cultures. The expression of cartilage-specific genes, namely collagen type II and aggrecan was inhibited in TBT- and DBT-treated cultured chondrocytes. TBT was significantly toxic to HAC at 0.16 ppb and DBT at 0.75 ppb.