Lithium ratio, phospholipids and the incidence of side effects

Relationship between erythrocyte lithium concentration and renal concentrating capacity

“…However, our results are different from the results of De Maio et al . (13) who found higher LRs in patients suffering from side‐effects and Johnston et al . (14) and Dehpour et al .…”

“…The studies on the correlation between LR and types of concomitant medications and the incidence of side-effects, have not yielded consistent results (13)(14)(15)(16).…”

“…There are several studies about the correlation between LR and incidence of lithium side-effects, but the results have been inconsistent. For example, in one study patients with higher LR showed obvious side-effects (13), while in another study patients with lower LR were reported to have more side-effects (14,15). In addition, some researchers did not find any correlation between side-effects and LR (16).…”

Predicting Response to Lithium in Mood Disorders

“…This so-called 'lithium ratio' (intra-erythrocyte : plasma) has been studied since 1970 as a possible marker in predicting lithium prophylactic response [53] and appearance of adverse effects. [54][55][56] Patients responding favorably to lithium treatment have been seen to show higher values of lithium ratio than those with poor responses, [53,[57][58][59][60][61] though this finding was not unequivocally confirmed. [62][63][64][65] Some studies on the clinical course of bipolar disorder could be considered an indirect support for hereditary basis of response to lithium treatment.…”

Biochemical and psychiatric predictors of Li+ response and toxicity in Li+‐treated bipolar patients

“…Serum Li + levels ([Li + ] e ), intracellular Li + red blood cells (RBC) levels ([Li + ] i ), and RBC [Li + ] i /[Li + ] e ratios (LR) have been hypothesized as predictors of Li + response and toxicity (4, 5). However, some bipolar patients do not respond to treatment, and some develop toxicity when [Li + ] e are within the therapeutic range.…”