Ultrastructural lesions of pyridoxine toxicity in beagle dogs

Three adult Beagle dogs given pyridoxine hydrochloride orally at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight/day for about 100 days developed ataxia and had spastic, dysmetric leg movements. Ultrastructural alterations in the dorsal funiculus of the spinal cord were degeneration and loss of axons and myelin, and secondary changes of the myelin sheaths. Possible pathogenic mechanisms of pyridoxine neurotoxicity are discussed.