Facility for in-vivo measurement of lithium

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:6427578

Vartsky, D; Wielopolski, L; Ellis, K J; Cohn, S H

Although lithium, an alkali metal is found in trace quantities in human, animal and plant tissue, no essential function has yet been ascribed to it. The concentration of Li in normal human tissue is in the 0.01 ..mu..g/g range, being largest in the cortical bone - 0.12 ..mu..g/g. Lithium was first used clinically for the treatment of mania. The most important clinical effect today is the prophylactic action or its ability to attenuate or prevent recurrences of manic and depressive episodes. While the absorption and excretion of Li have been studied, little is known about the distribution of Li between plasma and tissues. Li does not have a radioactive isotope which will permit these studies. Knowledge of the concentration of Li in a given tissue appears to be essential for understanding of the action of Li. Several studies in animals and postmortem specimens have been performed in vitro. This paper presents a method for in-vivo measurement of Li levels in human brain and other organs of interest such as the kidney.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 6427578
• Report Number(s): BNL-32266; CONF-8210106-3; ON: DE83007388
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550201* -- Biochemistry-- Tracer Techniques
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
ALKALI METALS
ANIMALS
BARYONS
BODY
BRAIN
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CLEARANCE
DOSES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
EXCRETION
EXHALATION
FERMIONS
HADRONS
IN VIVO
KIDNEYS
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LITHIUM
MAMMALS
MAN
MEASURING METHODS
METALS
NERVOUS SYSTEM
NEUTRONS
NUCLEONS
ORGANS
PRIMATES
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIATION DOSES
THERMAL NEUTRONS
TISSUES
TRITIUM COMPOUNDS
VERTEBRATES