Inhibitory effect of lithium on neuroleptic and serotonin receptors in rat brain

Lithium Enhances the GABAergic Synaptic Activities on the Hypothalamic Preoptic Area (hPOA) Neurons

Lithium (Li+) salt is widely used as a therapeutic agent for treating neurological and psychiatric disorders. Despite its therapeutic effects on neurological and psychiatric disorders, it can also disturb the neuroendocrine axis in patients under lithium therapy. The hypothalamic area contains GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons and their receptors, which regulate various hypothalamic functions such as the release of neurohormones, control circadian activities. At the neuronal level, several neurotransmitter systems are modulated by lithium exposure. However, the effect of Li+ on hypothalamic neuron excitability and the precise action mechanism involved in such an effect have not been fully understood yet. Therefore, Li+ action on hypothalamic neurons was investigated using a whole-cell patch-clamp technique. In hypothalamic neurons, Li+ increased the GABAergic synaptic activities via action potential independent presynaptic mechanisms. Next, concentration-dependent replacement of Na+ by Li+ in artificial cerebrospinal fluid increased frequencies of GABAergic miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents without altering their amplitudes. Li+ perfusion induced inward currents in the majority of hypothalamic neurons independent of amino-acids receptor activation. These results suggests that Li+ treatment can directly affect the hypothalamic region of the brain and regulate the release of various neurohormones involved in synchronizing the neuroendocrine axis.

Altered platelet protein kinase C activity in bipolar affective disorder, manic episode

Protein kinase C (PKC) activity and PKC translocation in response to serotonin were investigated in platelets obtained from bipolar affective disorder subjects before and during lithium treatment. Ratios of platelet membrane-bound to cytosolic PKC activities were elevated in the manic subjects. In addition, serotonin-elicited platelet PKC translocation was found to be enhanced in those subjects. Lithium treatment for up to 2 weeks resulted in a reduction in cytosolic and membrane-associated PKC activities and in an attenuated PKC translocation in response to serotonin. These preliminary results suggest that alteration in platelet PKC is associated with the manic phase of bipolar illness. The results also suggest that lithium treatment reduces the sensitivity of platelets to PKC translocation induced by activation of serotonin-2 receptors.

No alterations in the 5-HT1A-mediated inhibition of forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in the hippocampal membranes from rats chronically treated with lithium or antidepressants

In order to determine the relevance of 5-HT1A-related signal transduction in the mode of action of lithium and antidepressants, the effects of long-term treatment with these drugs on the 5-HT1A-mediated inhibition of forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity were investigated in the rat hippocampal membranes. Chronic administration of antidepressants altered neither the [3H]8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin [( 3H]8-OH-DPAT) binding sites nor the inhibition of forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity by 5-HT. Long-term treatment with lithium did not affect the inhibitory effect of 5-HT on the forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity, either. Neither the stimulation by forskolin nor the inhibition by guanyl-5'-ylimidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p) of adenylate cyclase activity was not influenced by lithium treatment, suggesting that lithium has no effects on the components of adenylate cyclase system distal to the 5-HT1A receptors. These results indicate that the 5-HT1A-mediated neural transmission has not such an important relevance in the mechanisms of action of lithium or antidepressants.

Effects of chronic lithium treatment on serotonin binding sites in rat brain

The effects of lithium treatment on serotonin (5-HT) binding sites in the rat brain were investigated. Oral administration of lithium carbonate for 3 weeks did not influence 5-HT2 binding sites in the cerebral cortex. On the other hand, the number of 5-HT1 binding sites labeled with [3H]5-HT was decreased significantly in the hippocampus, but not in the cerebral cortex. While non-5-HT1A sites, defined as specific [3H]5-HT binding in the presence of 100 nM 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT), were not affected by lithium treatment in either brain region, chronic lithium administration reduced significantly the density of 5-HT1A sites labeled with [3H]8-OH-DPAT only in the hippocampus, but not in the cerebral cortex. These results suggest that 5-HT1A components are responsible for lithium-induced down-regulation of 5-HT1 binding sites in the hippocampus and that 5-HT1A sites in the hippocampus might be connected with the therapeutic efficacy of lithium.

Neurochemical effects of chronic haloperidol and lithium assessed by brain microdialysis in rats

1. Psychotropic drugs ameliorate psychotic symptoms only after repeated administration. 2. To assess the neurochemical effects of chronic haloperidol and lithium administration, microdialysis was performed simultaneously in the prefrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens, and the striatum after haloperidol, and separately in the lateral hypothalamus and the hippocampus after lithium. 3. Chronic administration of haloperidol decreased dopamine turnover in the prefrontal cortex and the striatum. It did not affect the nucleus accumbens detectably. 4. No tolerance to haloperidol developed in any of the three regions. 5. Lithium enhanced the response of the serotonergic system to amphetamine in the lateral hypothalamus but not in the hippocampus. 6. The antipsychotic effect of haloperidol might be related to dopamine turnover decrease in the prefrontal cortex. 7. The antidepressant effect of lithium might be related to enhancement of serotonin responsiveness in the hypothalamus.

Effects of sodium, lithium, and magnesium on in vitro binding of [3H]SCH23390 in rat neostriatum and cerebral cortex

The effects of sodium, lithium, and magnesium on the in vitro binding properties of the D1 antagonist [3H]SCH23390 were examined with membrane preparations from rat neostriatum (CPU; caudate-putamen) and cerebral cortex (CTX). The saturation binding isotherms for both tissues performed in the presence of 120 mM of either Na+ or Li+ revealed an increase in the affinity, as compared to that observed when the incubation buffer was composed of Tris-Cl 50 mM with MgCl2 1 mM alone. For the CPU there were no changes in the maximum binding capacity (Bmax) in the different buffers used. In the case of the CTX, there was a loss of [3H]SCH23390 binding sites when either Na+ or Li+ 120 mM were added to the incubations, suggesting a lack of selectivity of this ligand in the absence of group IA cations. The agonist state of the [3H]SCH23390 binding site was studied in competition experiments with dopamine. The highest agonist affinity was obtained in 50 mM Tris-Cl buffer with 1 mM MgCl2 while the addition of 120 mM of either Na+ or Li+ caused a 3- to 5-fold decrease in the potency of dopamine to compete with specific [3H]SCH23390 binding in both CPU and CTX. The presence of magnesium was essential for the competition experiments; i.e.: a concentration of 1 mM MgCl2 was optimum to obtain dopamine antagonism of ligand binding, while increasing Mg2+ to 2 or 5 mM did not appear to further improve the inhibitions. The results support both agonist and antagonist affinity shifts for the dopamine D1 receptor labeled with [3H]SCH23390.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Long-term lithium treatment selectively reduces receptor-coupled inositol phospholipid hydrolysis in rat brain

Rats were treated with dietary lithium for 30 days, followed by assessment of the activity of the receptor-coupled inositol phospholipid second messenger-producing system in three brain regions. The major effect of long-term lithium treatment was a significant reduction of the response to norepinephrine in all three brain regions that were examined: the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, and the striatum. After long-term lithium treatment, the response to serotonin was reduced in the hippocampus and striatum, but not the cortex, and the carbachol-induced response was only reduced in the striatum. Lithium treatment did not alter the incorporation of [3H]inositol into phospholipids, the in vitro lithium concentration-dependent accumulation of [3H]inositol monophosphate, or the stimulation by NaF of inositol phospholipid hydrolysis. These results indicate that the decreased responses to agonists after long-term lithium treatment are not likely to be due to depletion of inositol phospholipids or to altered activity of myo-inositol-1-phosphatase, phospholipase C, or the guanine nucleotide-binding protein. It is suggested that long-term lithium treatment may alter receptor number or receptor coupling, perhaps by phosphorylation, thereby selectively lowering the agonist-induced generation of second messengers by the inositol phospholipid system.

Attenuation and cross-attenuation in taste aversion learning in the rat: studies with ionizing radiation, lithium chloride and ethanol

The preexposure paradigm was utilized to evaluate the similarity of ionizing radiation, lithium chloride and ethanol as unconditioned stimuli for the acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion. Three unpaired preexposures to lithium chloride (3.0 mEq/kg, IP) blocked the acquisition of a taste aversion when a novel sucrose solution was paired with either the injection of the same dose of lithium chloride or exposure to ionizing radiation (100 rad). Similar pretreatment with radiation blocked the acquisition of a radiation-induced aversion, but had no effect on taste aversions produced by lithium chloride (3.0 or 1.5 mEq/kg). Preexposure to ethanol (4 g/kg, PO) disrupted the acquisition of an ethanol-induced taste aversion, but not radiation- or lithium chloride-induced aversions. In contrast, preexposure to either radiation or lithium chloride attenuated an ethanol-induced taste aversion in intact rats, but not in rats with lesions of the area postrema. The results are discussed in terms of relationships between these three unconditioned stimuli and in terms of implications of these results for understanding the nature of the proximal unconditioned stimulus in taste aversion learning.

Effect of chronic lithium treatment on 5-hydroxytryptamine autoreceptors and release of 5-[3H]hydroxytryptamine from rat brain cortical, hippocampal, and hypothalamic slices

The effect of acute and chronic lithium treatments on 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) release and on its regulation by presynaptic 5-HT autoreceptors was studied in [3H]5-HT preloaded superfused rat brain slices. The [3H]5-HT overflow evoked by a 30-s exposure to 65 mM K+ was increased after 3 weeks of ingestion of lithium-containing diet in the three brain areas examined. Acute injection of 4 mEq/kg lithium chloride did not affect 5-HT release. The K+-induced release observed in both control and chronically lithium-treated animals was Ca2+-dependent. Chronic lithium treatment was also found to be associated with a decrease in basal [3H]5-HT overflow in the cortex and hypothalamus but not in hippocampus [corrected]. The Ca2+-independent overflow induced by fenfluramine was also decreased in cortical slices from lithium-treated animals. The sensitivity of the inhibitory 5-HT autoreceptors was assessed by the response to the 5-HT agonist 5-methoxytryptamine. The results indicate a marked reduction in the maximal inhibition of [3H]5-HT release induced by 5-methoxytryptamine in slices obtained from animals which have been treated with lithium for 3 weeks. These data suggest that the functional down regulation of the prejunctional 5-HT sites may be responsible for the increase in K+-stimulated 5-HT overflow in brain slices of animals treated chronically with lithium.