Abraham Flemenbaum

Antagonism of behavioral effects of cocaine by lithium.

Ten rats, serving as their own controls, were tested for hyperactivity (HyA) (by number of turns of an activity wheel cage) and stereotyped behavior (SB). The animals were given one week each of acclimation to the cages, saline, cocaine (19 mg/kg in 1 cc/kg saline), rest, two weeks on LiCl, and a week on LiCl plus the same dose of cocaine. LiCl produced a nonsignificant decrease of HyA and significantly decreased cocaine SB. The same procedure was duplicated using two different doses of cocaine in five animals each with identical results. The author concludes that Li seems to inhibit cocaine effects in animals and suggests a potential area of research for the use of Li in humans.

Lithium in opiate abuse: A theoretical approach

K RAEPELIN REPORTED that the greatest number of first attacks of manic depressive illness occur in patients between their 15th and 20th year.’ The incidence of suicides has been increasing in this age group and, as we will see later in this review, young drug addicts account for a large percentage of these suicides. During adolescence, the presenting symptoms are not the classic ones of affective disorders and usually are not carefully scrutinized. Gallemore and Wilson” reported that many adolescent admissions were characterized by severe disorders of mood and disturbed thought as well as behavior consonant with the affect. Nevertheless, these adolescents were brought for treatment because of complaints that differed from those of typical affective disorders of later life. They were usually seen because of apathy in school and family life, wanderlust, philosophizing, temper outbursts. promiscuity, etc., so that the diagnosis was missed. They also reported a significant number of individuals in a large population of adults with affective disorders who described similar episodes of illness in their adolescent or young adult years. Despite the generally favorable outcome of the affective illness in the adolescent, the patient’s future is at stake. including the selection of a mate, education. a career. and, in general, the orderly progression of life goals. Thus, if the primary disorder goes untreated, the end result could be a drastic change in lifestyle with catastrophic outcomes including chemical dependence, antisocial acts, etc.. that will further complicate the problem of diagnosis. Drug abuse and other behaviors such as drunken driving. delinquency. antisocial acts, promiscuity, wanderlust, etc., can be parapsychiatric disorder%. as reviewed by Maze? in nonpsychiatric subjects. These parapsychiatric problems are more common in males whereas females have a higher proportion of psychiatrically-treated symptoms. However. the total number of patients with parapsychiatric problems and those with psychiatrically-treated symptoms is about the same for both sexes. Affective disorders and chemical dependence frequently overlap, but they al-e still considered to be two separate disorders. The differential diagnosis between the two conditions is frequently difficult and even the occurrence of periodicity in both conditions further complicates the problem. There is increased evidence for differentiating affective disordered alcoholics (ADA) from the ones without a significant affective component. or primary alcoholics (PA).

Rat Dopamine Hypersensitivity

However. because of the differential “presenting symptoms” in adolescents

Lithium and Amphetamine Hyperactivity in Rats

Two groups of 5 Sprague-Dawley rats were tested with either d -amphetamine or saline following our drug abuse-kindling model for dopaminergic hypersensitivity on pretest and posttest

Rat Dopaminergic Hypersensitivity

The author contended opposite pharmacological effects resulting from lithium and amphetamine. Three groups, each one consisting of four rats, were put on chronic lithium condition to measure its effec

Field dependence, blood uric acid and cholesterol.

Two groups of 5 male and 5 female Sprague-Dawley rats each were tested for dopaminergic hypersensitivity on d -amphetamine or apomophine following a drug abuse-kindling model. In con

Does Lithium Block the Effects of Amphetamine? A Report of Three Cases

A preliminary report of the correlation of field dependence, blood uric acid, and cholesterol is presented here for 65 recently admitted patients to the psychiatric services of the University of Minnesota. The values for all three variables were taken once within 24 to 48 hr. after admission and prior to drug treatment whenever possible. Results are suggestive that the initial hypothesis; high blood uric acid, low-cholesterol individuals are more field-independent and high-cholesterol, low blood-uric acid individuals are more field-dependent holds, although this difference is mostly influenced by the values of cholesterol. Probably because of the small number of subjects tested no relationship could be observed with blood types used as genetic markers. Further controlled studies are suggested and are currently being carried out.