Abstract
Recent studies report the presence of pharmaceuticals and their bioactive metabolites in surface waters and raise the question of the potential ecotoxicity of these biologically active substances, especially in fish. Because of the large number of substances found in the aquatic environment, the metabolic and physiological specificities of different fish species, and the lack of data about drug toxicity in fish, in vitro testing with fish cells is currently promoted for "ethical" screening of active pharmaceutical substances. Herein, we propose an overview of the use of these fish cell models through the example of recent studies reporting the application of primary cells and cell lines (genetically modified or not) for the assessment of basal cytotoxicity and toxicity mechanisms of pharmaceuticals.