The effect of concurrent administration of psychotropic drugs and lithium on lithium ratio in bipolar patients

✍ Scribed by S. A. Ahmadi-Abhari; A. R. Dehpour; E. S. Emamian; M. Azizabadi-Farahani; H. Farsam; M. Samini; J. Shokri

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 122 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(199801)13:1<29::aid-hup940>3.0.co;2-t

✦ Synopsis

There are con¯icting results regarding the eect of neuroleptic drugs on lithium ratio (LR) and methodological problems may be a reason for this. The eect of concurrent use of some psychotropic agents with lithium on the LR was studied in 113 patients with bipolar mood disorder (BMD) during a prospective inpatient study by using the new direct method of measuring the erythrocyte lithium concentration (ELC). Results revealed that patients taking a combination of lithium and neuroleptics had signi®cantly lower LR and ELC values than those on lithium alone. Such dierences were not found in patients who received carbamazepine, benzodiazepines or ECT concurrently with lithium. No relationship was found between the LR and lithium dosage or duration of treatment. The plasma lithium concentration may not signi®cantly correlate with lithium dosage or duration. The eect of neuroleptics on the LR may be mediated through a stabilizing eect on the cell membrane with a consequent reduction on lithium transport into the erythrocyte.