Effect ofin vivoLithium Treatment on (-)Isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP Accumulation in Lymphocytes of Healthy Subjects and Patients with Affective Psychoses

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Abstract
Lithium treatment inhibited (-)isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP accumulation in lymphocytes of 83% of the normal control subjects investigated. Of the normal control subjects, 17% did not show inhibition of cAMP synthesis after lithium treatment. In one single normal control subject a clear inverse correlation was found between lithium serum concentration and maximal cAMP response. The cAMP levels of six manic-depressive and of four schizoaffective patients receiving lithium treatment did not differ significantly from those of 10 lithium-treated normal subjects. The results obtained in normal subjects seem to support the hypothesis that lithium reduces postsynaptic receptor sensitivity by decreasing cAMP response to agonist stimulation. Treatment outcome, however, does not seem to be exclusively related to a blunted noradrenergic response, since the only patient who did not respond to the treatment had a very low (-)isoproterenol-induced cAMP response after lithium treatment.

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