NutriCulture LDH Cytotoxicity Assay Kit is for measuring cell damage by quantifying the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released by cells into the culture medium. LDH is an enzyme present in the cytoplasm, and is released into the culture medium when the cell membrane is damaged. Since the released LDH is stable, measuring the amount of LDH in the medium can be used as an indicator to measure the quantity of dead and damaged cells.
 
The principle is that LDH catalyzes lactic acid to generate pyruvate and NADH, NADH can reduce the water-soluble tetrazolium salt (yellow) to become formazan product (red) through the electron carriers, the absorbance of the formazan product is proportional to the concentration of LDH. Using this principle, the quantity of dead and damaged cells can be determined.
 
NutriCulture LDH Cytotoxicity Assay Kit will not react with alive cells, do not damage the cells. It can be directly added to the medium containing cells for detection (direct method). Cells can also be isolated and added to the culture medium for detection (indirect method, the isolated cells can be used for other experiments).