Effects of prolonged lithium treatment on the water consumption and lithium content of rats

Yael Zilberman*, Jaime Kapitulnik, Giora Feuerstein, Dov Lichtenberg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Injection of LiC1 to rats (3.0 mmole/kg/day) caused a marked increase in water intake. The polydipsic effect was maximal after 8 - 10 days of treatment and then gradually declined. This reduction in polydipsia was accompanied by a decrease in Li+ content of plasma, red blood cells, liver, spleen, kidney and brain. Furthermore, the ratio of tissue to plasma lithium concentration (lithium index) declined in all tissues examined. The decrease in polydipsia was abolished by increasing the dose of LiC1 by 50%. These results suggest that tolerance to the polydipsic effect of lithium develops in the rat during chronic treatment with LiC1 as a result of a reduction in the cells capacity to accumulate lithium.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)467-474
Number of pages8
JournalPharmacological Research Communications
Volume11
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1979
Externally publishedYes

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