Summary
The influence of lithium on the oxygen uptake and the calorigenic actions of norepinephrine (NE), isoprenaline, amphetamine, and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) was studied in rats. The metabolic rate of animals which had received LiCl with the drinking water to give plasma lithium levels of 0.09–1.14 mEq/l was low and the calorigenic effect of NE was reduced. When LiCl was injected in large doses (giving plasma lithium levels up to 4.65 mEq/l) the metabolic rate was not altered but the calorigenic effect of NE, and to a lesser degree also that of isoprenaline and amphetamine, was reduced while the DNP-induced calorigenesis was enhanced. Lithium impaired the ability of rats to compensate for heat losses in a cold environment.
Some of the lithium-watered rats showed morphological signs of hypothyroidism but iodine uptake by the thyroid gland was only reduced when LiCl was injected. Results obtained with the Thyopac-3 test did not show any decrease in secretion of thyroid hormone.
Since the calorigenic response to DNP is not impaired by pretreatment with LiCl, hypothyroidism, if present at all, does not appear to be the cause of the reduced activity of NE and other Sympathomimetic amines in lithium-treated animals. It is more probable that lithium acts by altering uptake and release of monoamines.
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Über einen Teil der Ergebnisse wurde auf der Frühjahrstagung der Deutschen Pharmakologischen Gesellschaft 1970 berichtet.
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Opitz, K., Chu, H. & Grüter, H. Beeinflussung der calorigenen Wirkung von sympathomimetischen Aminen durch Lithium. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmak. 268, 379–391 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00997063
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00997063