Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 123-130
"In Vivo" Effects of Lithium Sulphate on the Turnover of Rat Tissue Nucleotides
Felicia Loghin,1 Carmen Socaciu,2 and Sorin E. Leucuta1
1Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "luliu Hatieganu", Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2Department of Biochemistry, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, str.Mănăştur 3, Cluj-Napoca 3400, Romania
Received 31 January 1996; Accepted 17 April 1996
The effects of lithium sulphate following acute administration to Wistar rats - in therapeutic and toxic doses - were investigated, using as markers the levels and turnover of brain, kidney and liver nucleotides. Adenine- and guanine-dependent nucleotides were assayed concomitantly, using a high- performance liquid chromatographic method. Following acute administration, lithium's effects on 3',5'- cAMP levels were more significant at hepatic and cerebral level, in a dose-dependant manner. The effect on 3',5'-cGMP had tissue specificity and was not dose-dependant. It might be possible that 3',5'-cGMP is a better indicator of lithium toxicity than 3',5'-cAMP.