The use of primary cultures of brain cells from tilapia Oreochromis nilotica and other teleost cells in toxicity testing

Chemical, bacterial, fungal and algal toxins occurring in the aquaculture and natural environments justify the need for rapid, inexpensive and accurate in vitro tests to predict toxicity. Primary cultures of teleost brain cells and cytotoxicity assays have not been previously employed to assess toxicity of these agents. Primary cultures of brain cells from tilapia and the following colorimetric assays, 5-(3-carboxylmethoxy-phenyl)-2-(4,5-dimethylthiazoyl)-3-(4-sulfophenyl) tetrazolium, inner salt (MTS), 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-(diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), lactate dehydrogenase (LHD), bromodeoxyuridine and neutral red (NR), were used to measure cytotoxicity and compared to results from other teleost primary cultures of brain cells and established cell lines. The results showed that primary brain cells were more sensitive than cell lines in predicting aquatic neurotoxicity. Significant positive correlations between MTS and MTT and between these tetrazolium-based assays and LDH were found. The NR assay was the least sensitive and was not positively correlated to the other assays.