Improved Formazan Dissolution for Bacterial MTT Assay

Abstract

Reduction of the water-soluble tetrazolium salt 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol)-2,5 diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) to purple, water-insoluble formazan is commonly used for assessment of cell viability and proliferation. Spectrophotometric detection of formazan requires its solubilization. The solubilization solvent has a strong influence on data acquisition and often introduces artifacts, leading to misreading of results. This study offers a choice of solvents that minimize solubilization artifacts when the MTT test is applied to microbiological cultures.

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