Osteoporosis is one of the major public health problems of the world. The disease causes the loss of bone
mass and degeneration of bone microarchitecture resulting in decreased bone strength and osseointegration process
is also affected in implant patient. In the past decade, a large number of research on various natural products has
been conducted to find a way to prevent osteoporosis and promote osteogenesis. It has been revealed that adlay
extract can increase cell proliferation and upregulates alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium level and bone density in
mouse model. However, there is a lack of the study on the effect of adlay extract on primary human osteoblasts.
This research thus aimed to examine the cytotoxicity and in vitro calcification of adlay extract on human osteoblasts.
Cytotoxicity was evaluated using MTT assay, testing adlay extract at concentration of 3, 15, 30, 150, 300, and 600
μg/ml prepared in DMEM with 2 % and 15 % fetal bovine serum (FBS) at 24, 48, and 72 hours. Alizarin Red-S staining
was used to analyze in vitro calcification of osteoblasts cultured in DMEM containing 15 % FBS and different
concentrations of adlay extract and at 14 and 21 days. Results from this study showed that 3-600 μg/ml adlay
extract had no toxic effect on primary human osteoblasts, and that 150, 300 and 600 μg/ml adlay extract promoted
cell proliferation when compared to control group at 72 hours in both 2 % and 15 % FBS in DMEM. Furthermore,
3-600 μg/ml adlay extract increased in vitro calcification. This study served as initial information for its future use
for surface modification of dental implant in patient with osteoporotic bone.