Toluene induces changes in the morphology of astroglia and neurons in striatal primary cell cultures

Abstract

Toluene (4.7–150 μmol per ml) was added for 30 or 60 min to astroglial and neuronal primary cell cultures from rat striatum and changes in cell morphology were analyzed by light microscopy. After 60 min incubation in 40 μmol toluene/ml, the cell bodies of the astrocytes appeared contracted, and their processes and nuclei were clearly visible. At higher doses of toluene the astrocytes seemed to be flattened and major cell damage was visualized by the uptake of vital dyes. The neurons, however, became affected and judged by morphological criteria only at the higher toluene doses. In conclusion, toluene induced morphological changes in primary astrocyte cultures and also in primary neuronal cultures at higher toluene concentrations.