Toxic effects of Aconiti tuber, an important ingredient of Chinese medicinal preparation, have been encountered clinically. The chief bioactive and toxic constituent is the alkaloid aconitine. In this study histopathologic changes in the fine structures of rabbit eye by intravenously administered aconitine were examined with light and electron microscopes. The initial and most characteristic features observed in the histopathologic study were degenerative changes in the myelinated nerve fiber layer. So the effects of aconitine on the rabbit eye were primarily regarded as toxic neuropathy.
Aconitine* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Humans ; Nerve Fibers, Myelinated