Comparison of the in vitro cytotoxicities and acute in vivo toxicities of 59 chemicals.

The in vitro cytotoxicities of 59 chemicals, expressed as ID50 values (i.e., concentrations of test chemicals that reduced the final cellular protein content of test cultures by 50% in comparison with appropriate solvent control cultures) and obtained using murine 3T3-L1 cells and the FRAME kenacid blue method, have been compared with rat oral and mouse intraperitoneal (ip) LD50 values. A better in vivo/in vitro correlation was obtained for the 59 chemicals with mouse ip LD50 values (r = .80) than with rat oral LD50 values (r = .76), but the best in vivo/in vitro correlation was found when the most toxic of the rat and mouse values were used in the comparison (r = .81).