Use of hepatocyte co-cultures in the assessment of drug toxicity from chronic exposure

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
1. In rat hepatocyte cultures, clonidine and malotilate were cytotoxic at 170 microM but did not induce changes at lower concentrations during 24 h exposure. Amitriptyline induced cell injury at 20 microM but was ineffective at 2 microM. 2. In co-culture of rat or human hepatocytes with rat liver epithelial cells, 2 microM amitriptyline was cytotoxic after 7 days treatment whereas 70 to 100 microM clonidine or malotilate gave no significant effect. 3. These results suggest that co-cultured hepatocytes which retain their differentiated state for several days or weeks, represents a promising tool for studying hepatotoxicity from chronic treatment in vitro.