Aberrant parenting and delayed offspring development in rats exposed to lithium.
Natural lithium (Li) salts, including those used routinely in manic depressive illness, consist of two stable nonradioactive isotopes: lithium-7 (Li-7) (92.6%) and lithium-6 (Li-6) (7.4%). Female rats (3 months old) were treated with either Li-7 chloride or Li-6 chloride or were untreated prior to and during gestation and lactation. Birth weights were lower for Li-treated animals than for normal pups. Maternal behavior of all Li-treated mothers was altered. Li-7 mothers ignored their pups and nursed them infrequently. Li-6 mothers groomed and nursed their pups more often than normal mothers. All pups showed delays in development, especially in the maturation of depth perception. Although Li-6-treated dams were over-protective mothers, their offspring showed longer developmental delays than those of Li-7-treated offspring.
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002712:Chlorides / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity*; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D008094:Lithium / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity*; D018021:Lithium Chloride; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D002712:Chlorides; D008094:Lithium; D018021:Lithium Chloride