Neurotoxic effects of disulfiram on autonomic nervous system in rat.

Two groups of male Wistar rats weighing about 140 (WI) and 200 g (WII) and a group of Sprague-Dawley (S.D.) rats (140 g) received oral disulfiram 220-580 mg/kg (DSF) daily for one or three weeks. Isolated ilea of both control and treated rats showed similar responses to acetylcholine, but the responses to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) were decreased after one and three weeks' treatment in the WI and SD rats. Pretreatment with reserpine intensified this effect in treated WI rats. A distinct decrease in the histochemical reactivity for the acetylcholinesterase and the non-specific cholinesterase was observed in the nerve plexuses of the gut wall indicating a DSF-induced nerve damage. Autonomic (cholinergic) nerves seemed thus to be affected by DSF. The two rats strains studied did not differ in their responses to 5-HT.