Lithium in drinking water may be negatively associated with depressive temperament in the nonclinical population

Abstract

Purpose: Recently, we reported that lithium levels in drinking water were significantly and positively associated with hyperthymic temperament scores, whereas latitude was significantly and negatively associated with the scores, suggesting that lithium in drinking water may positively maintain hyperthymic temperament and that latitude may negatively maintain it. In the present study, from the viewpoint of psychopharmacology, we investigated the other 4 affective temperaments in reference to lithium in drinking water with adjustment for latitude, temperature, and sunshine. Methods: We re-examined our previous dataset consisting of temperament data of 609 residents in Sapporo, Obihiro, Takaoka, Koshigaya, and Oita cities, in addition to the lithium levels in drinking water and climatic data of the five cities. Multiple regression analyses via the forced entry method were performed, whereby the individual temperament scores were dependent factors, and age, gender, the other four affective temperaments, lithium in drinking water, latitude, temperature, and sunshine were independent factors. Results: The multiple regression analysis revealed that lithium levels in drinking water were significantly and negatively associated with depressive temperament scores. The other three temperaments (i.e. irritable, cyclothymic and anxious temperaments) were not significantly associated with lithium levels in drinking water. Discussion: In conclusion, the present findings suggest that lithium in drinking water may be negatively associated with depressive temperament.

The Present State of Lithium for the Prevention of Dementia Related to Alzheimer’s Dementia in Clinical and Epidemiological Studies: A Critical Review

“…Additionally, this necessitates further clinical studies to confirm the aforementioned findings. For example, in the association between suicide rate and lithium in drinking water, we performed clinical studies [2,3] to directly confirm the indirect evidence from epidemiological studies [27][28][29][30] although we could not perform RCTs for that field.…”

The association between lithium in drinking water and neuropsychiatric outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis from across 2678 regions containing 113 million people

“…In a randomised controlled trial, microdoses of lithium were shown to have positive mood effects when provided as an oral supplement (Schrauzer and de Vroey, 1994). Furthermore, higher lithium levels in drinking water significantly reduced the prevalence of depressive temperament in Japan (Ishii et al, 2018). A similar systematic review and meta-analyses found lithium in drinking water were dose-dependently associated with reduced suicide mortality (Barjasteh-Askari et al, 2020).…”

An investigation into the association between suicide mortality rate and lithium levels in potable water: a review study

“…A study by König et al (2017) showed that suicide rates were lower (9.99/100 000) in high lithium-districts in comparison to other districts (12.5/100 000) in Chile in the period 2000–2009 ( P < 0.001). In a study, Ishii et al (2017) demonstrated that lithium concentrations in potable water were significantly and negatively correlated with depressive mood grades, but not with sunshine, temperature, or latitude in five cities of Japan. Another study in five districts of Japan reported that the latitude and ambient temperature were significantly correlated with hyperthymic mood, but not sunshine (Inoue et al , 2015).…”