Objectives: Glyoxal is used as a biocide and disinfecting agent in pharmacy and dye production is released to the environment, air and water with emissions. Furthermore, glyoxal is produced endogenously in non–enzyme-mediated pathways in intracellular metabolism which can be detected frequently in fermented food and beverages. For this purpose, in this study we investigated the effect of glyoxal on cell viability and proliferation in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) line in vitro. Method: In our study, cell culture was performed using HUVEC. Cell proliferation and viability were evaluated by spectrophotometry with tetrazolium salt (MTT) by applying different doses of glyoxal to HUVECs. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21.0 program. Results: Glyoxal in doses of 320, 16, 0.8 M significantly decreased cell proliferation when compared with control group (p < 0.05). The doses of 4 × 10–2, 2 × 10—3, 1 × 10–4, 5 × 10–5, 2 × 10–5, 1 × 10–6, 6 × 10–7, 3 × 10–7 M, were found to increase cell proliferation significantly (p < 0.05). Conclusion: According to our study, when compared to human plasma glyoxal level (0.1 – 1 M), doses of glyoxal over 1 M showed cytotoxic effect on cells, whereas doses below 1 M increased the proliferation of endothelial cells. It is accepted as an important intermediate in the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) by binding to the amino groups, nucleotides and lipids of the glyoxal proteins entering the cell. AGEs modification may activate cell proliferation pathways at low doses by altering protein function and influencing intracellular signaling pathways, while at high doses it may affect repair mechanisms and apoptotic processes, leading to cell damage. 

Keywords: Cytotoxicity; Endothelium; Glyoxal; Proliferation.