Effects of foetal calf serum on cell viability, cytotoxicity and detoxification in the two kidney-derived cell lines LLC-PK1 and MDCK.

Foetal calf serum (FCS) dependent cell viability, cytotoxicity and detoxification were investigated in MDCK and LLC-PK1 cells. FCS was used at 0-10% (v/v). Viability and cytotoxicity were measured by neutral red uptake and by the MTT test. Viability of LLC-PK1 was strongly dependent on the FCS concentration, but that of MDCK cells only to a very limited extent. For both cell lines the cytotoxicity of HgCl(2) was FCS concentration dependent: lower toxicity was observed with 5-10% FCS than with 0-1% FCS. This effect was not observed for paracetamol. The results could not be explained by altered glutathione or glutathione S-transferase. The optimal FCS concentration of 1%, necessary to retain cell viability, had a limited influence on cytotoxicity. FCS concentration must be taken into consideration when cytotoxicity data from different studies are compared.