Changes in brain enkephalin immunostaining after acute carbon disulfide exposure in rats.

Carbon disulfide neurotoxic mechanism in the brain is still not completely clear. In this work, the effect of carbon disulfide exposure in rats on the enkephalinergic neuromodulatory system is described. Caudatus-putamen showed no changes in immunostaining for met-enkephalin when compared with controls. However, a marked reduction in met-enkephalin immunostaining in the central amygdaloid nuclei and the globus pallidus was measured, with a parallel elevation in the lateral septal nucleus and the parietal cortex. It is suggested that enkephalinergic neuromodulatory system could play a role in carbon disulfide neurotoxicity.