Determination of pretransplantational cell viability by MTT colorimetric assay.

Objective To assess the role of MTT colorimetric assay in measuring mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and establish a new way to determine pretransplantational cell viability.Methods Human or rat testicular Leydig cell suspensions were incubated with MTT medium, isopropanol was used to dissolve MTT formazan, then the absorbance of supertants was measured at 563?nm wavelength. Cell culture and testosterone production were used to assess the reliability of MTT colorimetric assay with comparison with Trypan bluedye.Results 1 g/L MTT concentration, 3?h incubation, and isopropanol as a solvent were the best optimum for the cell culture in vitro and testosterone determination showed that MTT colorimetric assay was more sensitive and accurate than Trypan bluedye. MTT colorimetric assay was employed to successfully measure cell viability for 10 cases of human testicular Leydig cell transplantation.Conclusion MTT colorimetric assay provided a reliable, objective, accurate method for determining the pretransplantational cell viability.