Neuronal loss from cervical dorsal root ganglia in adriamycin induced peripheral neuropathy--a quantitative study.

The neurotoxic effects of some of the more recent chemotherapeutic drugs are not well studied. Adriamycin is such a drug, used in the treatment of some cancers in both children and adults. An examination of its effects on the peripheral nervous system was therefore undertaken particularly in view of its use in children. Sprague-Dawley rats, 1 week of age, were injected with a subcutaneous injection of adriamycin (10 mg/kg/wt.). Cervical dorsal root ganglia were removed and prepared for quantitative study at the light microscopic level. Quantitative analysis of neuronal counts of the ganglia showed a statistically significant loss (P less than 0.001) of sensory neurons in the treated rats. The remaining neurons displayed many abnormal morphological features suggestive of a degenerative process. From this study, functional loss cannot be correlated to neuronal type but the significant loss of neurons and numbers of affected cells observed would have a serious effect on sensory function.