[Influence of lithium chloride on lipid metabolism]

Lithium chloride was injected subcutaneously to mice (in amounts of 500 and 300 mg/kg) once a day for 10 and 15 days, and to rabbits in single doses via a tube into the stomach (in amounts of 400 and 850 mg/kg). After different time intervals following a single or course-wise administration of the compound the level of total lipids was determined in the muscles and liver of the mice, and of the total lipids, beta-lipoproteins, phospholipids, cholesterol, fatty acids and 11-oxycorticosteroids levels in the blood serum of rabbits and of the bile acids content in the vesical bile of these animals. Hyperlipemia that developed under the effect of lithium was caused by mobilization of fat from fat depots and by deranged interstitial lipids metabolism.