Intraocular colchicine selectively destroys immature ganglion cells in chicken retina.

Low doses of colchicine (greater than 0.5 microgram) injected into the eyes of young chickens irreversibly inhibit axonal transport of material labelled with [3H]fucose. This is due to almost total destruction of the retinal ganglion cells, while other retinal cell types, including the displaced amacrine cells found in the same retinal layer, survive the treatment. The neurotoxic effect of colchicine on chick retinal ganglion cells decreases after hatching, and it is suggested that the decrease in sensitivity may be related to myelination of the retinal ganglion cell axons.