Effect of cyanide intoxication on the metachromatic material found in the central nervous system.

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Abstract
Metachromatic staining bodies were seen in the white matter of normal adult rat brains fixed in formalin-alcohol. These were probably caused by solution and precipitation of some myelin component. These consist of a cerebroside, partly sulfated. Similar metachromatic bodies were seen in adult brains following prolonged fixation in formalin alone. These consist of chondroitin sulfate B and a small amount of heparin sulfate. In brains having cyanide-induced lesions both types of metachromatic body were replaced by numerous, small bodies in relationship to areas of oligo-dendroglial proliferation. They disappeared from necrotic and demyelinating lesions. Proliferation and hypertrophy of oligodendroglia are closely related in time to the earliest seen light microscopic changes in myelin as exemplified by the metachromatic bodies.