The use of cultured skeletal muscle cells in testing for acute systemic toxicity

A test system using primary cultured, spontaneously contracting, rat skeletal muscle cells has been developed to detect chemical interactions with excitable membranes. Taking into account some basic toxicokinetic differences between the in vivo and in vitro conditions, results obtained with the first 30 MEIC reference chemicals were quantitatively compared with in vivo acute toxicity data. The results show that the muscle cell test system is suitable for use in acute toxicity assessment and, for instance, for toxicity classification of chemicals.