Histological and histochemical studies on the rat brain under conditions of carbon disulfide intoxication

The brains of 35 male Wistar rats weighing 250 g were histologically and histochemically examined after a chronic intoxication due to five-month exposure to carbon disulfide. Morphologically, myelin sheath disruptions within the longitudinal tract systems of the spinal cord, destructions of individual ganglion cells in all brain regions and elective parenchyma necroses in the frontal and parietal cerebral cortices were found. The histochemical assays for enzyme activities of monoamine oxidase, ATPase, glucose 6-phosphatase, acetylcholine esterase and succinic dehydrogenase in the entire central nervous system revealed values identical to those obtained for control animals. Only succinic dehydrogenase and acetylcholine esterase revealed focal reduction in activities within the elective parenchyma necroses. After twenty-week duration of experiments a moderate decrease in activities of arylsulfatases and glutamic dehydrogenase in the entire central nervous system was found. Eventual causes responsible for these changes are discussed.