title: Chronic treatment of guinea pigs with lithium chloride: effects on myenteric plexus preparations and on cyclic AMP levels.
abstract: We studied the effects of lithium chloride, given i.p. in doses of 0.05, 1, 2, 4 and 8 mEq/kg twice daily for 14 days, on preparations of guinea pig myenteric plexus. The effects of lithium added to isolated myenteric plexus preparations derived from chronically treated animals showed that relatively low lithium concentrations produced a statistically significant decrease in the force of contraction, this effect being concentration-dependent. 3-Isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) induced a statistically significant inhibition, between 30 and 50%, of the lithium effects. cAMP levels in animals treated chronically with lithium were studied, using an isotopic displacement technique. Our results show that only the highest dose of lithium (8 mEq/kg per day) significantly decreased basal levels of cAMP. In the presence of IBMX, low doses of lithium (1 mEq/kg per day) induced a very significant decrease in cAMP levels, but the inhibition remained constant, approximately 30-35%, at doses from 2 mEq/kg per day. In guinea pig myenteric plexus preparations from acutely treated animals, our results show a direct relationship between lithium concentration and inhibition of the cAMP accumulation induced by IBMX.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Farmacologia, Terapèutica i Farmacologia Clínica, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mármol
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puig-Parellada
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Forn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002712:Chlorides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008094:Lithium / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018021:Lithium Chloride; D008297:Male; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002712:Chlorides; D008094:Lithium; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D018021:Lithium Chloride