Effects of the First Twenty MEIC Reference Chemicals on Viability,Glucose Consumption and Spontaneous Contractility of Primary Cultured Rat Skeletal Muscle Cells

Abstract

Primary cultured rat skeletal muscle cells were used to determine concentration-dependent effects of the first twenty MEIC chemicals on three endpoints, spontaneous contractility and viability after 1 and 24 hours, and glucose consumption during 24 hours of exposure. The contractions of cultured muscle cells depend on spontaneous electrical activity of the excitable cell membranes. The majority of the test compounds inhibited contractility at concentrations which affected neither viability nor glucose consumption. Most of these compounds are known to interact with excitable membranes in a site-specific or non-site-specific manner, thereby causing therapeutically intended or toxic effects. The results indicate that inhibition of spontaneous contractility of cultured skeletal muscle cells may reflect important non-cytotoxic biological activities of test chemicals which might be more relevant for their acute toxicity than cytotoxic action.