Ten permanent cell lines were examined for their reaction to the Clostridium novyi alpha toxin. The action of the toxin was determined after 3 days by microscopic examination and the MTT assay. The alpha toxin exhibited the strongest effect on ESH-L cells rather than other cell lines. Vero and SFT-R cells reacted in a comparable way, but less sensitively. We were able to show that the cytopathic effect on the three types of cells was neutralised by the international standard for gas gangrene antitoxin (C. novyi) but in no case by heterologous antisera. Our results have shown that the three cell lines were specific indicators for the detection of the cytopathic effect of alpha toxin. The cytopathic effect can be measured reproducibly by the cell culture assay used. These results are suitable as the starting point for the development of the neutralisation test using cell cultures.