Fluorescence histochemical patterns of Purkinje cell layer in rat cerebellum after long-term phenytoin administration

The effects of long-term Phenytoin (DPH) administration were studied on the cerebellum Purkinje layer of Sprague-Dawley rats. Histochemical qualitative studies were performed in order to investigate fluorescence patterns linked to degenerative pigment storage and to changes in biogenic amines. Specific tests for Falck's method and the microspectrofluorometric analysis of fluorescent bodies showed: a) an increase in storage lipopigment which, generally referred to in the literature as lipofuscin, partially exhibit a more complex structure due to the simultaneous presence of lipofuscin and ceroids in the same granular body; b) a change in neurotransmitter patterns. This change must be typically related to an altered metabolism of biogenic amines and/or to degenerative phenomena causing the accumulation of biogenic amines in nerve terminals. The morphological and histochemical pictures support the idea of a generalized Purkinje cell damage.