Myo-inositol (MI) which is produced at low concentration is an essential substance for animal’s natural growth. This study was performed to investigate the effects of MI on viability, proliferation and some biochemical factors of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). To investigate the cell viability using trypan blue assay, BMSCs after third passage were treated with different concentration of MI at 12, 24 and 36 hours. Then the samples were treated with 160 and 1280 μM of MI as selected concentrations for 36 hours to carry out further analysis including the proliferation ability via colony forming assay (CFA), publish doubling number (PDN) and the cells morphology. The level of Na+ and K+ was measured by flame photometer. In addition, the activity of ALP, LDH, AST, ALT as well as calcium concentration was evaluated using commercial kits. Data were evaluated using ANOVA, Tukey's test and p<0.05 was considered significant. Although MI in low concentration had no toxic effects at high concentration reduced the viability of the cells. MI reduced nuclei diameter, cytoplasm area, electrolytes as well as the activity of HDL and ALT. On the other hand, MI caused an increase in the activity of ALP and intracellular Ca2+ level. High concentration of MI not only reduces cell viability via imbalance of electrolytes but also changed the cell morphology. In addition, we observed the elevation of aerobic metabolism via calcium dependent mechanism.
