Colchicine reduces myelin thickness and axoplasm volume.

A Silastic cuff containing either colchicine (1% w/v) or no colchicine was placed around the lingual disorder tympani nerve of the Mongolian gerbil. After 3 days of exposure to colchicine, the mean period of the myelin sheaths was 23% less than the period observed in nerves treated with cuffs lacking colchicine, while the average number of lamellae was unaltered. At the same time colchicine reduced the volume of axoplasm by an average of 19%, an effect which was independent of fiber diameter.