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Summary.-I.p. administration at several dose levels over periods of up to 12 weeks, or continuous i.v. infusion of high doses of misonidazole (MISO) for 15 h, produced no significant change in peripheral nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and did not prevent the normal increase in NCV as the animals matured from 12 to 24 weeks of age. Peripheral NCV (sural nerve) was reduced in both MISO-treated and control mice with hind-limb tumour implants, presumably owing to physical pressure due to tumour growth. In addition, neither the medial nerves nor the tibial nerve in the normal limbs of the tumour-implanted, drug-treated animals showed any change. Consequently our earlier and present studies do not confirm the recent reports of changes in NCV following either acute or chronic MISO administration to mice.

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Summary.-The clinical use of the radiosensitizer misonidazole may be limited by the incidence of peripheral neuropathy reported following total doses in excess of 18 g. A recent report noted a decrease in nerve conduction velocity following a single i.p. injection of 1 mg/g misonidazole to mice. The present study was unable to confirm such changes when nerve conduction velocity measurements were made in situ or in isolated sural, tibial or median nerves of mice. Other electrophysiological parameters such as threshold, strength-duration curves, refractory time or the ability to carry high-frequency stimulation also showed no change. However, it was noted that a single administration of the radio-sensitizer produced a marked decrease in body temperature which persisted for at least 2 h after the elimination of the drug from the blood serum. The physiological response of reduction of body temperature may protect the mouse against the effect of the toxic chemical species involved in the induction of neurotoxicity.