Related Experiment Videos
Comparison of lithium ratio between African-American and Caucasian bipolar patients
T L Strickland1, K M Lin, P Fu
1Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, California 90059, USA.
Biological Psychiatry
|March 1, 1995
Abstract:
Lithium RBC/plasma ratio (LR) was studied in 34 bipolar subjects on therapeutic doses of lithium carbonate. The sample was divided into 22 Caucasians and 12 African-Americans to observe possible ethnic differences in LR as previously reported. The latter group demonstrated a higher LR as well as increased reports of side effects (p < .05), even after controlling previous confounding factors. Our findings suggest that African-Americans may be more susceptible to the side effects associated with lithium treatment, and consequently, lower dosages may be necessary for this group.