Lithium attenuates the activation-euphoria but not the psychosis induced by d-amphetamine in schizophrenia.
d-Amphetamine (20 mg) was administered intravenously in a double-blind design to 17 schizophrenic patients with and without concurrent 3-week lithium carbonate pretreatment to evaluate the lithium attenuation of d-amphetamine effects which we had observed in affective disorder patients. Lithium significantly attenuated the acute d-amphetamine-induced changes in an activation-euphoria cluster and in the mannerisms and posturing item of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Because the psychosis-increasing effects of d-amphetamine were not significantly decreased, it is conceivable that the d-amphetamine-induced changes in activation and euphoria and in psychosis are regulated by different dopamine mechanisms. The small clinical effects seen at 3 weeks of lithium treatment in schizophrenic patients could be mediated by dopamine.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005059:Euphoria / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011605:Psychoses, Substance-Induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000187:drug effects; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*
D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D008094:Lithium; D003913:Dextroamphetamine