Cerebellar Abnormalities Induced by Intracisternal Injection of Cytosine Arabinoside in Neonatal Mice

Abstract In order to examine the direct effects of cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) on cerebellar development, Slc:ICR mice were treated intracisternally with a single dose of 160 μ Ara-C on day 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 or 10 after birth. The mice in each group were killed at 30 days of age. Cerebellar weight was heavily reduced, but body and total brain weights were only slightly reduced in all Ara-C-treated groups. In mice treated on day 0, 1 or 2, derangement of the layered structure of the vermis was evident in the anterior folia. In the immunohistochemical examinations with GFAP and S-100 protein, Bergmann glial fibers ran tortuously and not perpendicular to the pia mater in the disarranged area. Bergmann glial cell bodies were scattered in the cerebellar cortex and not always adjacent to Purkinje cells. In the group treated on day 4 or later, the layered structure of the vermis was well preserved.