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The Relationship Between Extra- and Intracellular Lithium Concentration in Human Red Blood Cells: an in Vitro Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

John J. Ratey  and
Alan G. Mallinger
John J. Ratey
Affiliation:
From the Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Alan G. Mallinger*
Affiliation:
From the Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
*
∗Correspondence to be addressed to Dr Alan G. Mallinger, University of Pittsburgh, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261.
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Summary

Red blood cells (RBCs) from normal volunteers were incubated in vitro at four different extracellular lithium concentrations. Extracellular lithium concentration affected RBC lithium accumulation in several ways. As extracellular lithium concentration increased, the inter-individual variability of RBC lithium accumulation increased. Furthermore, the ratio of RBC lithium concentration to extracellular lithium concentration (lithium ratio) increased in relation to increasing extracellular lithium concentration. A lack of agreement among the authors of recent reports dealing with the significance of the lithium ratio as a psychobiological measure has been noted. It is suggested that this lack of agreement may be due, in part, to the study of patients with differing levels of extracellular lithium.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 131 , Issue 1 , July 1977 , pp. 59 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1977 

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