Lithium as an immunologic adjuvant.
Lithium, an adenylate cyclase inhibitor, stimulates a variety of in vitro indices of immune function, including proliferation of lymphocytes in response to mitogens, rosette formation by T-cells and phagocytosis by macrophages. Lithium enhances these immunologic responses at concentrations comparable to those achieved in patients receiving lithium for treatment of manic-depressive disorders. Lithium may prove to have important therapeutic applications as an immune adjuvant, particularly in immune deficiency states associated with excessive C-AMP production.
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D008094:Lithium / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D008094:Lithium; D000242:Cyclic AMP