The effects of sustained delivery of cortisol on kidney tubule epithelial cells in vitro.

The ability to utilize cell cultures to predict the effects of drugs and other compounds in in vivo models is an invaluable tool. Various studies have investigated the effects of kidney epithelial cells to various agents; however there are few studies that compare an in vitro to an in vivo environment. The specific objective of this study was to investigate the pathophysiological effects of Cortisol (CORT) on the proliferation and viability of Rhesus monkey kidney epithelial cells (RMKEC) in vitro. Twenty-four wells were plated with RMKEC and divided into four equal groups. Cells were treated with 10microL of CORT 5 microg/dl, CORT 20 microg/dl, or CORT 50 microg/d1 at 24, 48, and 72 hours. Epithelial damage was evident 24 after receiving a supraphysiological dose of cort, with increased hydrophic effects and alterations in cellular metabolism. The overall histological and cytological data suggest that test compounds tested in tissue culture provide a correlation as to how they will perform in vivo. Testing in compounds in vitro will allow the investigator to establish the IC50's of the test compounds as well as calculate the number of animals needed to reach statistical power.