Abstract: ObjectiveTo investigate the characteristics of growth and secretion in primarily cultured human pheochromocytoma cells.MethodsThe human pheochromocytoma tissues were digested successively,and the tumor cells were cultured.The growth curves of three tumors were plotted by cell count.At the same time,the catecholomine in the medium was measured with high performance liquid chromatography.ResultsThe number of primarily cultured human pheochromocytoma cells increased gradually from first to sixth day after plating,and then the cell number began to decrease from seventh day.The levels of norepinephrine(NE) and epinephrine(E) in the medium of cultured cells significantly decreased on first and second day,and the levels of NE and E had no significant difference on the second to eighth day.The levels of dopamine in the medium had no significant difference on the first to eighth day.ConclusionThe primarily cultured pheochromocytoma cells differentiate obviously after plating,but have no significant proliferation.The levels of catecholomine in the medium are decreased significantly on the first and second day.

Key words: pheochromocytoma, cell culture, catecholomine