Premium
Lithium and hematology: established and proposed uses
Author(s) -
Focosi Daniele,
Azzarà Antonio,
Kast Richard Eric,
Carulli Giovanni,
Petrini Mario
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of leukocyte biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.819
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1938-3673
pISSN - 0741-5400
DOI - 10.1189/jlb.0608388
Subject(s) - neutrophilia , hematology , lithium (medication) , neutropenia , medicine , lithium carbonate , treatment of bipolar disorder , haematopoiesis , biology , stem cell , immunology , pharmacology , bipolar disorder , chemotherapy , mania , chemistry , genetics , ion , organic chemistry , ionic bonding
Lithium (as lithium carbonate) is an unexpensive drug, widely used in psychiatry for over 50 years in treatment of mood instability (bipolar disorder) and as an adjunct to antidepressants. Hematological effects of neutrophilia and increased circulating CD34 + cells of marrow origin have long been known. Lithium was at the center of hematological investigations in the 1980s, but no definitive use in hematology has yet emerged. We review evidence that lithium increases G‐CSF and augments G‐CSF effects. We suggest possible therapeutic uses of lithium in neutropenia. In bone marrow transplantation, preharvest lithium‐assisted hematopoietic stem cell mobilization may be useful as well.