Inositol may reverse lithium-induced polydipsia but not polyuria

✍ Scribed by J. Levine; T. Shectman; E. Lefkifker; N. Horesh; J. Shapiro; G. Agam; Y. Bersudsky

• Book ID: 101280398
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 114 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(199709/10)12:5<459::aid-hup889>3.0.co;2-k

✦ Synopsis

A previous open study suggested that oral inositol 3 g/day ameliorates lithium-induced polyuria±polydipsia as rated subjectively by patients. We designed a double-blind crossover study of 6 g/day oral inositol versus placebo, each given for 2 weeks, in seven patients. Inositol did not reverse lithium-induced polyuria, as measured by 24 h urine volume and urine speci®c gravity. However, subjects' subjective report of symptomatology was signi®cantly improved on inositol as compared to placebo, possibly due to alleviation of polydipsia. Inositol was previously shown to reverse lithium-induced polydipsia in rats. Such a phenomenon may be mediated by either a central or a peripheral mechanism. In order to study such suggested mechanisms, we injected daily inositol or arti®cial CSF i.c.v. to rats exhibiting lithium-induced polydipsia. Inositol i.c.v. reversed lithium-induced polydipsia, but kidney inositol levels in Li-treated rats were not dierent from controls. These ®ndings suggest that inositol may alleviate symptoms of lithium-induced polydipsia via a central eect, but has no direct eect on lithium-induced polyuria.