Variations in the response of cell lines to metabolism-mediated toxicity.
One major criticism of cytotoxicity tests is the negligible capacity for metabolism of foreign compounds, which exists in most cell lines. We have investigated the use of an exogenous metabolizing system, comprising 9000 g supernatant of liver from Aroclor 1254-pretreated rats (S-9) and an NADPH regenerating system, in the kenacid blue test. BCL-D1 cells (a human embryonic lung finite cell line) appeared to be sensitive to the toxicity of active metabolites of several model toxins. Other cell lines appeared to be less sensitive but the effects varied with the cell line and the test compound. These differences may, in part, be due to differences in the intrinsic ability of different cell lines to detoxify the active metabolites. It is therefore possible to use this type of test system for mechanistic studies but results with unknown compounds should be treated with caution.
Benford
D J
DJ
Robens Institute of Health and Safety, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH, UK.
Dixit
M
M
Foster
B
B