Carbon disulfide inhibits neurite outgrowth and neuronal migration of dorsal root ganglion in vitro.

Carbon disulfide (CS₂) is a neurotoxic industrial solvent and widely used in the vulcanization of rubber, rayon, cellophane, and adhesives. Although the neurotoxicity of CS₂ has been recognized for over a century, the precise mechanism of neurotoxic action of CS₂ remains unknown. In the present study, a embryonic rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) explants culture model was established. Using the organotypic DRG cultures, the direct neurotoxic effects of CS₂ on outgrowth of neurites and migration of neurons from DRG explants were investigated. The organotypic DRG cultures were exposed to different concentrations of CS₂ (0.01 mmol/L, 0.1 mmol/L, 1 mmol/L). The number of nerve fiber bundles extended from DRG explants decreased significantly in the presence of CS₂ (0.01 mmol/L, 15.00 ± 2.61, p < .05; 0.1 mmol/L, 11.17 ± 1.47, p < .001; 1 mmol/L, 8.00 ± 1.41, p < .001) as compared with that in the absence of CS₂ (17.83 ± 2.48). The number of neurons migrated from DRG explants decreased significantly in the presence of CS₂ (0.01 mmol/L, 79.50 ± 9.40, p < .01; 0.1 mmol/L, 62.50 ± 14.15, p < .001; 1 mmol/L, 34.67 ± 7.58, p < .001) as compared with that in the absence of CS₂ (99.33 ± 15.16). And also, the decreases in the number of nerve fiber bundles and migrated DRG neurons were in a dose-dependent manner of CS₂. These data implicated that CS₂ could inhibit neurite outgrowth and neuronal migration from DRG explants in vitro.