Cytotoxicity of T-2 toxin and its metabolites determined with the neutral red cell viability assay

The neutral red (NR) cell viability assay was used with various cell types of human origin to quantitate the potency of T-2 mycotoxin and its metabolites. The human melanoma SK-Mel/27 cell line was the most sensitive, with a midpoint cytotoxicity value of 2.8 ng of T-2 per ml. With the human hepatoma cell line, HepG2, the sequence of potency for a series of mycotoxins was T-2 greater than HT-2 greater than T-2 triol greater than T-2 tetraol.