Is ethylcholine mustard aziridinium ion a specific cholinergic neurotoxin?
The histopathologic effects of different doses of ethylcholine mustard aziridinium ion infused into the caudate-putamen complex or nucleus basalis were evaluated in rats. Although no non-specific tissue damage was observed at the lowest doses of ethylcholine mustard aziridinium ion examined–0.01 nmol in 1-microliter vehicle and 0.02 nmol in 2-, 5-, and 10-microliters vehicle in both the striatum and nucleus basalis–minimal but definite non-selective pathology, characterized by gliosis and loss of all neuronal elements in the region affected by the nitrogen mustard, was observed in both targets at a dose of 0.02 nmol 1 microliter and more severely at all doses containing 0.05 and 0.1 nmol ethylcholine mustard aziridinium ion. At doses of ethylcholine mustard aziridinium ion containing 0.2 nmol of the cytotoxin and greater amounts, non-specific cell loss in intact tissue and extensive cavitation became increasingly the most prominent histologic features of drug action. No statistically
