24-hour lithium concentration in human brain studied by Li-7 magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Brain and serum lithium concentrations were measured every second hour during a 24-hr period following lithium intake, and again 48-hr later in two normal subjects in steady state lithium treatment receiving lithium carbonate (Priadel Synthelabo) once every evening. The brain-lithium concentration was measured by 7Li magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The brain lithium level was found to undulate in a peak-trough pattern that followed the serum lithium profile, although in an attenuated form. The brain/serum lithium concentration ratio varied considerably during the 48-hr period, ranging from 0.5 to 1.3, but the ratio was independent of the serum-lithium concentration. The median half-life for lithium was 28 hr in the brain, and 16 hr in serum. The brain lithium concentration in the morning was about 75% of the clinically relevant standard 12-hr serum lithium concentration. The finding that brain lithium undulates during the day means that MRS measurements of brain lithium can only be compared if carried out under standard conditions that include a fixed interval following lithium intake and an identical treatment regimen.