Cytotoxicity of metals toward rainbow trout R1 cell line

Cultured fish cells are of potential use in the initial screening of the adverse effects of aquatic pollutants. In the present study, R1 cells, a fibroblast-like cell line derived from liver tissue of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), were exposed to 13 metal salts. Cytotoxicity was assessed by the neutral red uptake inhibition test. The rank order of cytotoxicity for the cationic metals was silver > mercury > cadmium > zinc > copper > nickel > lead; for the anionic metal complexes it was arsenite > dichromate > chromate > arsenate > selenite > permanganate > selenate. Metal cytotoxicity toward R1 cells showed close correlation with the cytotoxicity values of metals toward the BF-2 cell line from bluegill sunfish (r = 0.98). For the divalent cations, cytotoxicity correlated well with the physicochemical softness parameter σp (r = 0.93). Correlation coefficients between the in vitro toxicity of cationic metals and their in vivo LC50 data varied for different fish species, with r values from r = 0.64 to r = 0.92. The in vitro cytotoxicity of anionic metal complexes was not related with their acute in vivo toxicity. © 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc..