Lithium is commonly used in treating
mental disorders and bipolar diseases. As physicians frequently keep the patients on long-term
lithium therapy, awareness of the numerous side effects and pathogenesis of this lightest
alkali metal is needed for such treatments. The present study was designed to evaluate the toxic effect of small doses of
lithium chloride in male Wistar rats. The
oral administration of
lithium chloride (15, 30 mg/kg body wt) for 7 weeks through their
drinking water elicited a significant alteration in their
body weight and blood serum chemistry. The serum
enzyme levels of
alkaline phosphatase (ALP),
high density lipoprotein (HDLP), and
creatinine kinase (CK) were diminished, whereas the level of serum
urea and
glucose were elevated in the
lithium treated animals, depicting the disturbed general physiological status. Furthermore, a marked inhibition in the levels of serum
alanine and
aspartate transaminases (ALT and AST) reflected a stimulating transamination reaction in hepatic and renal tissues.
Lithium exposure also reduced the
glutathione (GSH) level and stimulated the lipid peroxidation (LPO) level in the rat blood cells, indicating oxidative stress in the red blood cells due to
lithium exposures. The histopathological observations of the liver and kidney tissues revealed many
deformities and histological alterations due to
lithium treatment. The results of present study suggest that small doses of
lithium induce toxicity in rat blood as well as in liver and kidney tissues. However, the precise mechanism of
lithium toxicity is still incompletely understood.