Enhancing Gingival-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Potential in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Through Paraprobiotics

Gingival-derived mesenchymal stem cells (GMSCs) stand for a unique source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from a neural crest origin with potential application in regenerative medicine. However, there are some limitations to the usage of these cells in clinical cell therapy such as reduced cell number and undesirable differentiation of the cell throughout frequent passages. Nowadays, studies have applied manipulation strategies to improve MSCs' effectiveness in clinical therapy. Among all of the materials used for this purpose, there is a growing trend for the use of biomaterials such as probiotic extracts or their conditioned media due to their lower toxicity. In the present study, we utilized extracts from <i>Lactobacillus reuteri</i> and <i>Lactobacillus rhamnosus</i> to assess their potential to enhance the function of GMSCs. We compared the effectiveness of these bacterial extracts to determine their relative efficacy. Bacterial extracts of two lactic acid bacteria were prepared using an ultrasonic homogenizing device. The impact of these bacterial extracts on GMSCs was evaluated through Alizarin Red and Oil Red O staining, cell counting by Trypan Blue staining, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The findings of our study indicate that the administration of 50 μg/mL <i>L. rhamnosus</i> extract resulted in a greater enhancement of stemness marker expression, osteogenic differentiation, and proliferation of GMSCs compared with an equivalent concentration of <i>L. reuteri</i> extract. Neither of these bacterial extracts revealed any effect on the differentiation of the GMSCs into the adipogenic lineage. These findings suggest that <i>L. rhamnosus</i> extract could be more effective at promoting GMSCs' efficacy in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.