Abstract
Background: Organic solvents are widely used in cell biology experiments. Despite increasing the solubility, they have some moderate
toxic effects. Therefore, selecting the appropriate solvent along with the use of suitable concentration insures the accuracy
and reliability of experimental results.
Objectives: The current study aimed to examine the cytotoxic effects of some organic solvents on various cell models including
MCF-7, RAW-264.7 and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).
Materials and Methods: To evaluate the cytotoxicity effect of common organic solvents on the MCF-7, RAW-264.7 and HUVEC cells,
multi-table tournament (MTT) colorimetric assay, the widely used and validated cytotoxicity test was applied. For this purpose, the
selected cells were treated with different concentrations (0, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 3% and5% v/v) of fourmostcommonlyused organic
solvents (acetone, ethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dimethylformamide (DMF) and then subjected to MTT experiment.
Results: According to the obtained results, the cytotoxicity increased significantly with increasing the concentration of all four
solvents compared to that of the control group. Studies with MCF-7, RAW-264.7 and HUVEC suggested that acetone, ethanol and
DMSO at concentrations of 0.1% and 0.5%, had little or no toxicity, whereas higher concentrations inhibited the growth of all three
cells. Compared with other three solvents, DMF displayed rather greater toxicity. Based on the results, proliferation of MCF-7, RAW-
264.7 and HUVEC cells were inhibited by all used organic solvents, dose dependently.
Conclusions: Thus, the background experimental error can be reduced remarkably by maximal concentration of 0.5% ethanol,
acetone and DMSO and 0.1% DMF in the final treatment medium.