Lipidosis of the dorsal root ganglia in rats treated with an almitrine metabolite.

Toxic effects of a detriazinyl metabolite of almitrine (DTMA) were evaluated in rats and on cultured rat macrophages. In rats daily treated with DTMA for 16 weeks, spastic gaits with heel-lifting appeared, and lamellated and/or crystalloid bodies formed in sensory neurons, satellite cells, Schwann cells, and vascular endothelial cells of the dorsal root ganglia. The lysosomal lamellated bodies, which were not induced by almitrine, were produced also in cultured rat macrophages exposed to over 1 x 10(-5) M DTMA.