title: Characterization and applicability of a cytotoxicity assay determining growth inhibition after a 1-hour treatment with xenobiotics in human cell culture.
abstract: A cytotoxicity assay to determine growth inhibition after a 1-hr treatment with xenobiotics in serum-free medium and subsequent re-incubation in serum-containing medium without test chemicals was characterized and optimized for cytotoxicity screening. Our results indicated that after treatment of human fibroblasts with the test chemicals a 44-hr re-incubation period is most suitable for measuring the growth inhibitory effects of a broad spectrum of chemicals. Applying the assay, the activity to inhibit growth by 10% (log IC(10)) correlated with the lipophilicity (specified as octanol-water partition coefficient = log K(ow)) of 19 xenobiotics. The linear regression coefficient was r = 0.91. This close correlation between toxicity and lipophilicity shows that the test, which avoids long-term incubation in serum-containing medium, is suitable for cytotoxicity screening and structure-activity analysis.
authors.affiliation: Carl von Ossietzky Universität, Oldenburg, FB 7 and ICBM, Postfach 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jacobi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Krieger
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Witte