title: Preferential vulnerability of dendrites to lithium ion in rat brain and in nerve cell culture.
abstract: Preferential swelling and vacuolation of dendrites were observed electron microscopically in different brain regions of rats treated with LiCl in a dose of 6-18 mmol/kg for 1-6 days. The most severe fine structural changes were revealed in the hippocampus. Low-dose (0.33 mmol/kg) lithium treatment lasting for a year did not cause any morphologically detectable alterations in the rat brain. In vitro studies showed a reduction of dendro-axonal process network of neurons measured by morphometric means after lithium exposure. Using different cultures of neuronal and glial cell populations, higher lithium uptake was observed for neuron-enriched cultures.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D046508:Culture Techniques; D003712:Dendrites / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008094:Lithium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D008094:Lithium