EVIDENCE THAT PHOSPHOINOSITIDE METABOLISM IN RAT CEREBRAL-CORTEX STIMULATED BY PILOCARPINE, PHYSOSTIGMINE, AND PARGYLINE INVIVO IS NOT CHANGED BY CHRONIC LITHIUM TREATMENT

Abstract: The effect of chronic versus acute administration of lithium on receptor‐linked phosphoinositide metabolism was assessed by comparing the change in the cerebral cortex levels of myo‐inositol 1‐phosphate in response to pilocarpine, physostigmine, or pargyline in rats. Rats were exposed to either 29 consecutive days of LiCl injections or 27 and 39 days of dietary Li2CO3, followed by injected LiCl at the end of the diet to insure a constant level of exposure to the drug. In each experiment, an acute group received a single injection of LiCl 20–24 h before they were killed. One hour before being killed, some of the animals acutely exposed to lithium and some of the animals chronically exposed to lithium each received pilocarpine, physostigmine, or pargyline. At the conclusion of the experiment, the rats were killed and brain levels of myo‐inositol 1‐phosphate and lithium were determined. A differential production of myo‐inositol 1‐phosphate in groups receiving acute versus chronic lithium would provide evidence of a change in receptor‐linked phosphoinositide metabolism due to the chronic administration of lithium. Brain levels of mvo‐inositol 1‐phosphate are dependent on tissue lithium concentrations; consequently, significant differences observed in brain lithium levels between the groups receiving acute versus chronic lithium prevented a meaningful assessment of the effect of the mode of lithium administration on the production of myo‐inositol 1‐phosphate in those groups. Stepwise multiple regression analysis and the measured brain lithium levels were used to assess the response of myo‐inositol 1‐phosphate levels to stimulation in animals receiving acute or chronic lithium treatment. The results of the analysis indicate that there would have been no differences in the response to drugs when comparing the two routes of lithium administration if the lithium levels had been identical in both the acute and chronic lithium groups. These results also suggest that multiple regression analysis can be used with an established data base to aid in the interpretation of the results of experiments in which changes in brain myo‐inositol 1‐phosphate levels are used as an index of phosphoinositide metabolism. The possibility is discussed that the effects of lithium on phosphoinositide signalling are already present in the group receiving a single acute dose of LiCl and that this effect persists over the course of chronic administration. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved