This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Ralph N. Wharton, MD
New York State Psychiatric Institute New York

JAMA. 1970;211(8):1379.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The use of lithium carbonate in both mania and depression remains an issue (210:897, 1969). Its use in mania still might be reserved only for patients with chronic recurrent, refractory, or allergic cases. Lithium carbonate has an extremely narrow therapeutic range (ie the dose between clinical effect and toxic effect): A dose producing a blood level of 1 to 2 mEq/ liter is therapeutic. Fatalities have been reported at the 2.5 mEq level.

The mechanism of action remains unknown, and many serious questions remain unanswered. Perhaps most relevant is its dactinomycinlike effect and its possible genetic effects. Berg¹ suggests that lithium chloride reduces the rate of protein synthesis after cleavage in sea urchin embryos and that it may suppress m-RNA. Other recent work² implicates it in gene activity. Effects of manipulation of critical salts on producing deformity goes back to Stockard (1908).³

Despite . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?