The Effect of Concurrent Administration of Typical Or Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs and Lithium on Lithium Ratio in Acute Manic Patients

Objective: the lithium concentration in the plasma is assumed to give some indication as to the concentration of this ion in different organ cells especially incentral nervous system. while the practical value of intracellular lithiummeasurement is controversial however, erythrocytes have proved to be usefulfor studying lithium concentration and its transport across the membrane. thereare some reports suggesting that neuroleptic drugs are able to affect theerythrocyte lithium concentration (elcs), although these studies have yieldedinconsistent results.method: in the present study the effect of risperidone and olanzapine asatypical antipsychotic and haloperidol as standard typical antipsychotic onlithium ratio in 46 acute manic patients was studied. elcs were measured usingatomic absorption spectrophotometer. clinical response was evaluated by usingyoung mania rating scale (ymrs).results: no significant difference was found between lrs and dose or type ofantipsychotics. also there were no significant differences between lrs andclinical response or remission.conclusion: the concurrent use of an atypical antipsychotics and lithium maynot significantly alter the lithium transport in the erythrocyte and presumably inthe nerve cells. a more comprehensive study is warranted to confirm the resultsof this study.