Furaltadone cytotoxicity on three cell lines in the presence or absence of DMSO: comparison with furazolidone.

Nitrofuran drugs have been studied on cellular systems in order to develop in vitro tests for safety assessment of food contaminants. In the present study we have tested furaltadone on three cell lines (HEp-2, Caco-2 and V79), using the same toxicity endpoints as in a previous study with furazolidone, namely cell viability and growth, colony-forming ability, LDH release, and O2 consumption. One of the aims of this investigation was to compare the two compounds in order to determine whether our models are able to discriminate among structurally related molecules. The other aim was to study the influence of the solvent used on the observed toxicity, because furaltadone is soluble both in water and in DMSO. The results show that the three cell lines used as differently affected by the two compounds, and that, at least in the case of furaltadone, the solvent is not relevant for the observed toxicity.