[Effect of pyrithiamine on rat sciatic nerve. (I) Morphological changes during the early stage of thiamine deficiency (author's transl)].

We observed under light and electron microscopes morphological changes in the rat sciatic nerve during the early stages of a thiamine deficient state as induced by a pyrithiamine (PT: 50 microgram/100g X 6 days) and thiamine deficient diet (TDD). We simultaneously determined thiamine levels in the whole sciatic nerve of rats. Experiments were undertaken with normal control, TDD (rats fed a TDD), PT (PT treated rats) and PTD (PT treated rats fed a TDD) groups. Microscopically, there were numerous shrunken myelinated axons with myelin ovoids of folds in the PT group and many swollen ones in the PTD group. Electron microscopically, we found more advanced lesions in the PTD group than in the other groups. These ultrastructural changes were swelling of Schwann cells, enlarged rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, axonal degeneration with shrinkage, loss of organelle or abnormal myelin sheath, and proliferation of fibroblasts. The thiamine level in the PTD group decreased to 18 approximately 30% that of control in proportion to the morphological changes. On the other hand, the thiamine level in the PT group (55 approximately 61%) decreased slightly more than that of the TDD group (50 approximately 56%), but changes in morphology were vice versa. These results suggest that the morphological changes in the sciatic nerve caused by PT-induced thiamine deficiency differs from changes seen in cases of dying-back neuropathy caused by TDD-induced deficiency, and that PT itself directly affects the nervous system