In vitro evaluation of cell/biomaterial interaction by MTT assay.

The tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay (MTT test) measures only in vitro living cells and the results are directly related to the number of viable cultured cells. It has been adopted in immunological investigations, cancer research and, recently, biocompatibility evaluation. We used the MTT method with minor modifications to fit it to an in vitro study of biomaterial-cell interactions. The MTT assay was confirmed to be feasible, rapid and reproducible. Moreover, it showed a good correlation with other in vitro proliferation assays, such as the 3H-thymidine uptake assay. By using the MTT method and the ASTM procedure for extracting biomaterials, we quantified the in vitro cell compatibility of different metals and polymers.