Mechanisms of Lithium Action

LITHIUM first attracted medical attention in the 19th century when A. B. Garrod attempted to treat gout with Li+ because Li+ urate was found to be more soluble than Na+ or K+ urate. However, the ubiquity of Na+ and K+ in human fluids prevented successful clinical exploitation of the differential solubility. Since that time the medical applications of Li+ have ranged from use as a sodium substitute to improve taste in low Na+ diets to use as a psychoactive agent in the treatment of manic-depressive disorders. The corresponding results have ranged from the production of severe and occasionally fatal Li . . .