Abstract
Several toxic agents have an easy access to the peripheral nervous system. These toxic substances belong to different classes, including therapeutic drugs, recreational abuse substances, environmental and industrial contaminants.
Establishment of a real causal relationship between peripheral nervous system damage and toxic agents exposure is obvious in some condition (e.g., in the course of anticancer chemotherapy), but it can be very difficult or even misleading in other contexts, when potential exposure is not easy to be proven or is not reported by the affected subjects.
Not all the reports describing the peripheral toxicity of substances causing rare events are convincing, and the list of putative neurotoxic agents is probably over-estimated. Nevertheless, relationship even with agents with only occasional neurotoxicity has been clearly established.
The clinical effects of the exposure to neurotoxic agents are highly variable, depending on the mechanism of their action and on the intracellular target. In most cases, sensory impairment is exclusive or largely predominant over motor or autonomic damage. Similarly, the clinical course may be acute, subacute, or chronic and recovery after withdrawal from toxic exposure is not always guaranteed. Moreover, worsening lasting months after the suspension of toxic exposure (the “coasting effect”) has also been reported. Despite the typical clinical features are those of distal, symmetrical polyneuropathy, local application of neurotoxic agents may induce focal mononeuropathies.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bal-Price A, Lein PJ, Keil KP, Sethi S, Shafer T, Barenys M, Fritsche E, Sachana M, Meek MEB. Developing and applying the adverse outcome pathway concept for understanding and predicting neurotoxicity. Neurotoxicology. 2017;59:240–55.
Weimer LH, Sachdev N. Update on medication-induced peripheral neuropathy. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2009;9:69–75.
Arezzo JC, Litwak MS, Zotova EG. Correlation and dissociation of electrophysiology and histopathology in the assessment of toxic neuropathy. Toxicol Pathol. 2011;39:46–51.
DeGrandchamp RL, Lowndes HE. Early degeneration and sprouting at the rat neuromuscular junction following acrylamide administration. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 1990;16:239–54.
Marmiroli P, Nicolini G, Miloso M, Scuteri A, Cavaletti G. The fundamental role of morphology in experimental neurotoxicology: the example of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity. Ital J Anat Embryol. 2012;117:75–97.
Grisold W, Cavaletti G, Windebank AJ. Peripheral neuropathies from chemotherapeutics and targeted agents: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Neuro Oncol. 2012;14 Suppl 4:iv45–54.
Cavaletti G, Alberti P, Marmiroli P. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity in the era of pharmacogenomics. Lancet Oncol. 2011;12:1151–61.
Cavaletti G, Marmiroli P. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity. Nat Rev Neurol. 2010;6:657–66.
Carozzi VA, Chiorazzi A, Canta A, Meregalli C, Oggioni N, Cavaletti G, Marmiroli P. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity in immune-deficient mice: new useful ready-to-use animal models. Exp Neurol. 2015;264:92–102.
Carozzi VA, Canta A, Oggioni N, Sala B, Chiorazzi A, Meregalli C, Bossi M, Marmiroli P, Cavaletti G. Neurophysiological and neuropathological characterization of new murine models of chemotherapy-induced chronic peripheral neuropathies. Exp Neurol. 2010;226:301–9.
Bennett GJ, Doyle T, Salvemini D. Mitotoxicity in distal symmetrical sensory peripheral neuropathies. Nat Rev Neurol. 2014;10:326–36.
Meregalli C, Chiorazzi A, Carozzi VA, Canta A, Sala B, Colombo M, Oggioni N, Ceresa C, Foudah D, La Russa F, Miloso M, Nicolini G, Marmiroli P, Bennett DL, Cavaletti G. Evaluation of tubulin polymerization and chronic inhibition of proteasome as cytotoxicity mechanisms in bortezomib-induced peripheral neuropathy. Cell Cycle. 2014;13:612–21.
Cavaletti G, Ceresa C, Nicolini G, Marmiroli P. Neuronal drug transporters in platinum drugs-induced peripheral neurotoxicity. Anticancer Res. 2014;34:483–6.
Sprowl JA, Ciarimboli G, Lancaster CS, Giovinazzo H, Gibson AA, Du G, Janke LJ, Cavaletti G, Shields AF, Sparreboom A. Oxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity is dependent on the organic cation transporter OCT2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013;110:11199–204.
Sprowl JA, Lancaster CS, Pabla N, Hermann E, Kosloske AM, Gibson AA, Li L, Zeeh D, Schlatter E, Janke LJ, Ciarimboli G, Sparreboom A. Cisplatin-induced renal injury is independently mediated by OCT2 and p53. Clin Cancer Res. 2014;20:4026–35.
Abbi KK, Rizvi SM, Sivik J, Thyagarajan S, Loughran T, Drabick JJ. Guillain-Barré syndrome after use of alemtuzumab (Campath) in a patient with T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia: a case report and review of the literature. Leuk Res. 2010;34:e154–6.
Pastorelli F, Derenzini E, Plasmati R, Pellegrini C, Broccoli A, Casadei B, Argnani L, Salvi F, Pileri S, Zinzani PL. Severe peripheral motor neuropathy in a patient with Hodgkin lymphoma treated with brentuximab vedotin. Leuk Lymphoma. 2013;54:2318–21.
Johnson DB, Manouchehri A, Haugh AM, Quach HT, Balko JM, Lebrun-Vignes B, Mammen A, Moslehi JJ, Salem JE. Neurologic toxicity associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a pharmacovigilance study. J Immunother Cancer. 2019;7:134.
Orr CF, Ahlskog JE. Frequency, characteristics, and risk factors for amiodarone neurotoxicity. Arch Neurol. 2009;66:865–9.
Hao S. The molecular and pharmacological mechanisms of HIV-related neuropathic pain. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2013;11:499–512.
Manji H. Toxic neuropathy. Curr Opin Neurol. 2011;24:484–90.
Mellion M, Gilchrist JM, de la Monte S. Alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy: nutritional, toxic, or both? Muscle Nerve. 2011;43:309–16.
Koike H, Iijima M, Sugiura M, Mori K, Hattori N, Ito H, Hirayama M, Sobue G. Alcoholic neuropathy is clinicopathologically distinct from thiamine-deficiency neuropathy. Ann Neurol. 2003;54:19–29.
Ramcharan K, Ramesar A, Ramdath M, Teelucksingh J, Gosein M. Encephalopathy and neuropathy due to glue, paint thinner, and gasoline sniffing in Trinidad and Tobago-MRI findings. Case Rep Neurol Med. 2014;2014:850109.
Sills RC, Harry GJ, Morgan DL, Valentine WM, Graham DG. Carbon disulfide neurotoxicity in rats: V. Morphology of axonal swelling in the muscular branch of the posterior tibial nerve and spinal cord. Neurotoxicology. 1998;19:117–27.
Ghosh A. Evaluation of chronic arsenic poisoning due to consumption of contaminated ground water in West Bengal, India. Int J Prev Med. 2013;4:976–9.
Kim S, Takeuchi A, Kawasumi Y, Endo Y, Lee H, Kim Y. A Guillain-Barré syndrome-like neuropathy associated with arsenic exposure. J Occup Health. 2012;54:344–7.
Rice KM, Walker EM, Wu M, Gillette C, Blough ER. Environmental mercury and its toxic effects. J Prev Med Public Health. 2014;47:74–83.
Kingman A, Albers JW, Arezzo JC, Garabrant DH, Michalek JE. Amalgam exposure and neurological function. Neurotoxicology. 2005;26:241–55.
Thomson RM, Parry GJ. Neuropathies associated with excessive exposure to lead. Muscle Nerve. 2006;33:732–41.
Sondekoppam RV, Tsui BC. Factors associated with risk of neurologic complications after peripheral nerve blocks: a systematic review. Anesth Analg. 2017;124:645–60.
Sites BD, Taenzer AH, Herrick MD, Gilloon C, Antonakakis J, Richins J, Beach ML. Incidence of local anesthetic systemic toxicity and postoperative neurologic symptoms associated with 12,668 ultrasound-guided nerve blocks: an analysis from a prospective clinical registry. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2012;37:478–82.
Jeng CL, Torrillo TM, Rosenblatt MA. Complications of peripheral nerve blocks. Br J Anaesth. 2010;105(Suppl 1):i97–i107.
Lupu CM, Kiehl TR, Chan VW, El-Beheiry H, Madden M, Brull R. Nerve expansion seen on ultrasound predicts histologic but not functional nerve injury after intraneural injection in pigs. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2010;35:132–9.
Selander D, Brattsand R, Lundborg G, Nordborg C, Olsson Y. Local anesthetics: importance of mode of application, concentration and adrenaline for the appearance of nerve lesions. An experimental study of axonal degeneration and barrier damage after intrafascicular injection or topical application of bupivacaine (Marcain). Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 1979;23:127–36.
Sturrock JE, Nunn JF. Cytotoxic effects of procaine, lignocaine and bupivacaine. Br J Anaesth. 1979;51:273–81.
Lirk P, Hollmann MW, Strichartz G. The science of local anesthesia: basic research, clinical application, and future directions. Anesth Analg. 2018;126:1381–92.
Yang S, Abrahams MS, Hurn PD, Grafe MR, Kirsch JR. Local anesthetic Schwann cell toxicity is time and concentration dependent. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2011;36:444–51.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cavaletti, G., Marmiroli, P. (2022). Toxic Neuropathies. In: Angelini, C. (eds) Acquired Neuromuscular Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06731-0_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06731-0_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-06730-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-06731-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)