[Prescription of lithium in alcoholic patients]

The first, non-standardized studies on the effects of lithium against alcoholism involved a small number of subjects and were encouraging. Subsequent studies have not cast any doubt on the usefulness of lithium in alcoholics with disorders of mood. No effect of lithium on the urge to drink and on the frequency of relapses has yet been demonstrated, but lithium is known to reduce the cognitive and suggestive effects of alcohol abuse. However, the cell lithium/plasma lithium ratio must be taken into account when the cognitive effects of alcohol are evaluated. From a biological viewpoint, lithium and alcohol share some common targets: serotonin metabolism and uptake, membrane fluidity and membrane phospholipids organization.