Jr. Fry et Ah. Hammond, ASSESSMENT OF THE FUNCTIONAL INTEGRITY OF HEPATOCYTES - A BRIEF REVIEW, ATLA. Alternatives to laboratory animals, 21(3), 1993, pp. 324-329
A variety of approaches to assessment of cellular integrity exist, bas
ed on tests of integrity of the plasma membrane, tests of metabolic co
mpetence, and asessment of morphology. By definition, such approaches
address different aspects of cellular integrity and hence are not inte
rchangeable indices of cellular integrity. Accordingly, it would be mo
st appropriate to characterise hepatocyte preparations on the basis of
more than just trypan blue dye exclusion (a test of plasma membrane i
ntegrity) as is customary. A scheme for the choice of the most appropr
iate mix of tests of cellular integrity is presented.