Lithium transport in the mouse brain

Using the stable isotopes of lithium 6Li and 7Li, and the nuclear reaction 6Li(n,alpha)3H for detection, we have studied the isotopic exchange of lithium in various areas of the mouse brain and in the mouse plasma, under conditions of constant concentration of total lithium. The neutron irradiations were performed using 'cold' neutrons, at the European Institute Von Laue-Langevin. The nuclear reaction track densities were determined using an automatic image analyser. In the plasma, the isotopic ratios, 6Li/7Li, were measured using 'Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry'. The concentration of total lithium in the plasma was kept close to 0.28 mM. The brain concentration of total lithium (referred to the tissue water content) ranged from more than 2 mM in the thalamus to less than 0.65 mM in the white matter of the cerebellum. The Nernst potential of lithium thus ranged from approx. -50 to approx. -20 mV, which means that lithium is probably not far from electrochemical equilibrium between brain cells and plasma. At any moment, the isotopic abundance of 6Li (ratio of 6Li to total lithium) in the different brain areas, were not significantly different from one another. The time-course of the isotopic abundance of 6Li in the brain was fitted by the composition of two exponential terms. The time-course of the isotopic abundance of 6Li in the plasma was also fitted by the composition of two exponential terms. These analytic curves (for the brain and for the plasma) were not significantly different from each other, at the precision of the measurements. This means that the isotopic equilibration of lithium between brain and plasma is almost instantaneous (i.e. accomplished in a few min at the most).