Evaluating the toxicity of Triton X-100 to protozoan, fish, and mammalian cells using fluorescent dyes as indicators of cell viability.
Three viability assays using fluorescent dyes effectively detected a loss of viability in cultures of three mammalian cell lines (H4IIE, Caco2, and HepG-2), two fish cell lines (RTgill-W1 and RTL-W1), and a ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena thermophila, after exposure to Triton X-100, used as a model toxicant. The dyes were Alamar Blue (AB), neutral red (NR), and propidium iodide, which respectively monitored energy metabolism, lysosomal activity, and membrane integrity. A fourth fluorescent dye, 5-carboxyfluorescein diacetate acetoxymethyl ester, was problematic. For 2-h Triton X-100 exposures, mammalian cell lines were as susceptible as piscine cell lines, whereas T. thermophila was approximately twofold less sensitive as detected with AB and NR. Despite being less sensitive, cytotoxicity tests on T. thermophila could be done in spring water, which means that unlike animal cells they could be directly exposed to most industrial effluents without osmolality adjustments. Therefore, T. thermophila could be a useful complement to animal cells as alternatives to fish in toxicity testing.
Dayeh
Vivian R
VR
Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont, Canada N2L 3G1.
Chow
Stephanie L
SL
Schirmer
Kristin
K
Lynn
Denis H
DH
Bols
Niels C
NC
D000826:Animal Testing Alternatives; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival; D005399:Fishes; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D020387:Food Chain; D008322:Mammals; D017830:Octoxynol / Q000633:toxicity*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D013768:Tetrahymena; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D017830:Octoxynol