Application of Alamar blue/5-carboxyfluorescein diacetate acetoxymethyl ester as a noninvasive cell viability assay in primary hepatocytes from rainbow trout.

We have adopted the application of two fluorescent indicator dyes to studying the viability of monolayers of primary rainbow trout hepatocytes. The two fluorescent dyes--Alamar blue, which indicates metabolic activity of a cell, and 5-carboxyfluorescein diacetate acetoxymethyl ester (CFDA-AM), which is an indirect measure of cell membrane integrity-are noninvasive and can be monitored conveniently directly in multiwell plates. According to these dyes, L-15 culture medium supported hepatocyte viability over 96 h more stably than did M199.

Endocrine disruption and altered gonadal development in white perch (Morone americana) from the lower Great Lakes region.

High prevalences of gonadal intersex have been observed in wild fish populations in areas affected by domestic and industrial effluents. For this study, fish were collected in 1998 from the Cootes Paradise region of Hamilton Harbour in western Lake Ontario, Canada, to determine whether gonadal abnormalities, including intersex, were present in young of the year (YOY) fish. No gonadal abnormalities were observed in goldfish (Carassius auratus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), brown bullhead (Ictalurus ameiurus), pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus).