Nitroblue Tetrazolium Chloride

DescriptionNitro Blue Tetrazolium (NBT) is a chromogenic substrate that, like other tetrazolium compounds, can be reduced to produce a colored formazan derivative. It is used in the “NBT test” to evaluate the activity of NADPH oxidase in phagocytes, which results in the production of blue reduced NBT formazan in normal cells but not in those from patients with chronic granulomatous disease. NBT can also be used as a chromogenic activity stain for oxidoreductases in gels or solutions. More commonly NBT is often paired with 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-inolyl phosphate (PCIB) for the colorimetric detection of alkaline phosphatase activity. Alkaline phosphate converts PCIB to a product that reduces NBT to its formazan derivative, resulting in a black-purple precipitate.

UsesNitrotetrazolium Blue Chloride is a Tetrazolium dye used in colorimetric assays. It can be used to assess cell viability as a function of redox potential. Intense blue dye used in histochemistry determinations. actively respiring cells convert the water-soluble NBT to a deep blue-colored precipitate.

General DescriptionNitrotetrazolium Blue chloride (NBT) is a colorless to yellow dye that is reducible to blue or black formazan crystals by certain cells; formerly used to distinguish between nonbacterial and bacterial diseases, the latter causing neutrophils to reduce the dye; used to confirm diagnosis of chronic granulomatous disease.