OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the proliferation, morphology, and antigenic expression of human fibroblast-like cells between primary cultures treated with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or fetal bovine serum (FBS) as the growth factor source.
DESIGN: Cells from human gingival tissue samples obtained from healthy volunteers during oral surgery were studied. Isolated cells were cultured in media supplemented with 10% PRP or FBS. Platelet-rich plasma was prepared from the venous blood of each patient. The authors studied short- and long-term cell cultures in the presence of PRP or FBS as the sole growth factor source in order to determine (a) cell growth rate, by MTT (3-[4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay; (b) cell morphology, by electronic microscopy; and (c) antigenic expression, by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy.