Antinuclear antibodies occurred more often and in higher titres in psychiatric patients than in controls. Anti-DNA antibodies were not found. We suggest that antinuclear antibodies may be drug-induced and that lithium carbonate may have a particular tendency to produce this reaction.

LITHIuM, the lightest metal, has an atomic weight of seven and closely resembles sodium chemically. The ion is toxic and there are no therapeutic uses for lithium salts. Good (1903) quoted investigations of nearly twenty years previously in animals, where intravenous lithium salts depressed the heart's action and caused a fall in blood pressure. The dose of lithium salts necessary to stop the h...

Thyroid disfunction affects negatively emotional stability and worsens the clinical course of bipolar affective disorder. The main stabilizer used in this illness, lithium carbonate has numerous effects on the physiology of the thyroid, with the most significant being the inhibition of thyroid hormone release that may occur at therapeutic levels. These dysfunctions have also been reported most ...

The limited value of plasma measurements in the management of treatment with lithium is discussed in the light of the mechanisms of its therapeutic actions and toxic effects.The plasma level of lithium usually rises twofold or threefold in the three to five hours after ingestion of each dose of delayed-release tablets and then gradually falls. The precise shape and height of the lithium curve d...

The use of lithium is well established in bipolar disorders and the benefits are being demonstrated in neurodegenerative disorders. Recently, our group showed that treatment with microdose lithium stabilized the cognitive deficits observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. In order to verify the lithium microdose potential in preventing the disease development, the aim of this work was to v...

BACKGROUND A subgroup of children and adolescents with conduct disorder are characterized by severe and persistent aggression. Although there is no agreed on treatment for such aggression, lithium carbonate has shown promise in some studies involving children. Our study was designed to critically assess the efficacy of lithium in the treatment of aggression in children and adolescents using a m...

The lithium ions concentration in human serum and saliva was determined using dry-slide technology Vitros 250 Analyser (Ortho Clinical Diagnostic) and atomic absorption spectrometry Perkin Elmer 403 (AAS). We analyzed lithium ions in 100 serum and saliva specimens of patients after oral administration of lithium carbonate (3 x 300 mg) Jadran, Galen Laboratory Rijeka. Saliva and blood were taken...