TOXICITY TESTING WITH HEPATOCYTES - SOME METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Two conventional systems - freshly-isolated hepatocytes and hepatocyte s in culture - are now widely used for toxicity testing, each possessi ng advantages and disadvantages, More-recently developed alternative s trategies, which try to minimise the disadvantages apparent in the con ventional systems, are described. Results obtained from these alternat ive strategies are presented, and the importance of culture as a deter minant of toxic response is emphasised. Evidence is presented that red uction of the tetrazolium dye, MTT, is a measure of nucleotide redox b alance in hepatocytes, rather than of mitochondrial performance as pre viously believed.