title: Chronic lithium treatment decreases [3H]-imipramine binding in rat brain.
abstract: The effect of a chronic lithium treatment on the [3H]-imipramine binding in rat brain regions was investigated. In the striatum, an oral administration of lithium for 30 days induced a decrease in the [3H]-imipramine binding at the concentration of [3H]-imipramine, 1.0 nM, compared to the control. Lithium did not affect the [3H]-imipramine binding in the cerebral cortex and hypothalamus. A Scatchard analysis in the striatum revealed a decrease in the number of [3H]-imipramine binding sites with no changes in the binding affinity. These results suggest that the chronic lithium treatment may produce subsensitivity of the [3H]-imipramine binding in man and that this effect of the ion may be closely related to the established effect of lithium in the treatment of affective disorders.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism; D007099:Imipramine / Q000378:metabolism*; D008094:Lithium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D008094:Lithium; D007099:Imipramine