Lithium entry into neural cells via sodium channels: a morphometric approach

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.

Effect of chronic lithium treatment with or without haloperidol on number and sizes of neurons in rat neocortex

The present study used stereological methods to determine whether long-term administration of lithium, with or without haloperidol, affects the number and average volume of neocortical neurons. Twenty-five rats were divided into three groups and given no treatment, lithium, or lithium combined with haloperidol. Serum lithium levels ranged from 0.5 to 0.8 mmol/l. Haloperidol was injected intraperitoneally at a daily dose of 1 mg/kg. After 30 weeks of treatment, the animals were killed and the brains were prepared. Neocortical volume, density of neurons, total number of neurons and mean volume of neurons were estimated. As no differences were found between the groups, the present study provides no evidence for quantitative morphological changes in the cerebral cortex due to long-term 'therapeutic' levels of lithium, with or without haloperidol.

Cardiovascular effects of NaCl microinjections into the nucleus of the solitary tract

The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) was systematically explored in the alpha-chloralose-anesthetized rat for sites that elicited changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) during microinjections (20 nl) of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; pH 7.2-7.4) or NaCl solutions containing various concentrations of NaCl (104-326 mM). Decreases in MAP (range 7-83 mmHg) and HR (range 10-70 bpm) were consistently elicited from sites in the caudal medial and commissural subnuclei of NTS. Microinjection of PBS or NaCl into other NTS subnuclei or area postrema did not elicit cardiovascular responses. Microinjection of LiCl in PBS elicited cardiovascular responses that were significantly smaller than those elicited by microinjection of NaCl in PBS at the same NTS site. Injections of either a hyperosmotic (400 mOsm/kg) or a hyposmotic (204 mOsm/kg) solution of mannitol into NaCl-sensitive sites did not elicit cardiovascular responses. Finally, most of the sites in NTS that elicited cardiovascular responses during microinjection of glutamate (1 M) did not respond to microinjections of PBS. Administration of atropine methyl bromide had no effect on the magnitude of the depressor response to injections of PBS into NTS, but significantly attenuated (32%) the HR response. Subsequent administration of the ganglionic blockers hexamethonium bromide or arfonad abolished both the depressor and bradycardic responses. These data suggest that within a restricted region of the caudal NTS there exists a pool of neurons sensitive to changes in extracellular Na+ concentrations that, when activated by the sodium, elicit vasodepressor responses as a result of sympathoinhibition and bradycardia as a result of vagal excitation and sympathoinhibition.

Lithium, sodium, potassium and rubidium cation concentrations during the development of certain organs of unborn rabbits

The distribution of lithium, sodium, potassium and rubidium in rabbit fetuses was determined during the last two weeks of gestation. Samples of eye, brain, lung, heart, liver and kidney were investigated. Co-actions between the ion pairs Li+/Na+ and K+/Rb+ could be discerned. The essential properties of lithium and rubidium for the fetal development of rabbits were examined by investigating the supply of the fetal organs with these elements. Correlations between organ differentiation processes and metal concentrations were established and compared with the results obtained for the fetal development of other vertebrates.