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Thyroid Res 2013 Feb 7;6(1). Epub 2013 Feb 7.

Department of Medicine, Uganda Martyrs Hospital Lubaga, Kampala, Uganda.

Unlabelled:

Background: Lithium is an integral drug used in the management of acute mania, unipolar and bipolar depression and prophylaxis of bipolar disorders. Thyroid abnormalities associated with treatment with lithium have been widely reported in medical literature to date. These include goitre, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism and autoimmune thyroiditis. Read More

Ann Pharmacother 2002 Nov;36(11):1745-8

Unité Fonctionnelle, Centre de pharmacovigilance, CHU de Grenoble, Grenoble, France.

Objective: To report a case of neonatal goiter and biological hypothyroidism in a newborn exposed to lithium in utero resulting from therapy given to the mother before and during her pregnancy.

Case Summary: A male neonate, born at 37 weeks' gestation, presented with a goiter without other signs of hypothyroidism. His serum thyroid-stimulating hormone concentration was high and unbound tetrathyroxine concentration was low, indicating that chronic exposure to lithium was present. Read More

J Affect Disord 1998 Jul;50(1):33-40

Division of Psychological Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, UK.

Background: Little is known about the rate of thyroid disorders prior to lithium treatment, and which patients have a higher risk for developing such disorders during such treatment.

Method: Assessment of the thyroid histories and laboratory results of 209 lithium-treated patients with affective disorders from one catchment area.

Results: Six female patients had thyrotoxicosis before starting lithium, a rate of 4. Read More

Acta Psychiatr Scand 1996 Jul;94(1):45-8

Department of Neurosciences B.B. Brodie, University of Cagliari, Italy.

A cohort of patients at various stages of lithium treatment was followed up for 6 years in order to evaluate the course of thyroid abnormalities. Ultrasonography confirmed that lithium can increase thyroid size, especially in cigarette smokers, and that it can affect the texture of the gland. However, the incidence of clinical hypothyroidism or specific thyroid autoimmunity does not exceed that found in the general population. Read More

J Clin Pathol 1995 Jun;48(6):582-4

Kanazawa University Hospital, Japan.

A 26 year old woman with lithium induced thyrotoxicosis is reported. The thyrotoxicosis was associated with a non-tender diffuse goitre and a low radioiodine uptake by the gland. The thyrotoxicosis was reversible and remitted on withdrawal of the drug. Read More

Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr 1995 Apr;63(4):149-61

Neurologische Klinik und Rehabilitationsklinik für Rückenmarkverletzte Hohe Warte, Bayreuth.

Controlled studies in 1990-1992 with Danish, Sardinian, and Hongkong-Chinese patients consistently revealed a prevalence of goiter of about 50% in lithium treated patients. This is far beyond the frequency generally assumed for Germany, the whole country still known to be an endemic goiter area. Hypothyroidism as a side effect of lithium occurs in a clearly different group of patients and is much less frequent, the overall incidence being not substantially different from the incidence in the general population. Read More

J Endocrinol 1994 Nov;143(2):221-6

Department of Laboratory Medicine, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.

Long-term administration of lithium is one of the well-known causes of goiter. It can stimulate DNA synthesis in rat thyroid cells (FRTL-5) treated with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). To investigate the mitogenic signal transduction system activated by lithium, lithium-induced DNA synthesis and Ca2+ influx were studied using two protein kinase inhibitors, genistein as a specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor and staurosporine as a potent inhibitor of protein kinase C. Read More

Endocrinology 1991 Aug;129(2):807-14

Endocrine Research Laboratory, West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center, California 90073.

Lithium has been reported to alter thyroid function and cause goiter in some patients. To explain the mechanism of lithium action in the thyroid gland, we studied the effect of lithium on thyroid function and cell growth in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells and on de novo thyroid hormone formation in primary cultures of porcine thyroid follicles. TSH-induced iodide uptake was suppressed at 2 mM lithium in both FRTL-5 cells and porcine follicles. Read More

Psychiatry Res 1990 Oct;34(1):13-7

Istituto di Endocrinologia, University of Pisa, Italy.

The problem of whether rapid-cycling (RC) bipolar disorder is more frequently associated than non-rapid-cycling (NRC) bipolar disorders with thyroid dysfunction was investigated in two groups of 11 women matched for age and therapy. Seven patients in each group were under chronic lithium therapy. Both RC and NRC patients, as compared to euthyroid controls, showed a reduction in mean total and free thyroid hormone concentrations, subnormal values of free thyroxine being found in four RC and three NRC patients. Read More

J Clin Psychiatry 1988 Jan;49(1):14-6

Douglas Hospital Centre, Verdun, Quebec, Canada.

A group of 116 lithium-treated patients (53 men, 63 women) with predominant diagnoses of affective disorders were systematically examined for the presence of thyroid disorders. Nine (7.8%) patients (2 men, 7 women) were found to suffer from hypothyroidism after a mean of 3. Read More

J Clin Psychopharmacol 1986 Apr;6(2):120-1

Probl Endokrinol (Mosk) 1984 Jan-Feb;30(1):22-6

Seventy-six patients (6 males and 70 females) with diffuse toxic goiter, stages I-II, received lithium carbonate as a thyrostatic drug. The drug dose ranged from 900 to 1500 g depending on the degree of the disease clinical symptoms. The treatment with lithium lasted 45 days. Read More

Encephale 1979 ;5(2):171-88

The treatment by lithium is known to involve certain endocrine complications. Those concerning the thyroid function, with risk of a frank hypothyroidy, are the most important. Aiming to appreciate the frequence and the intensivity of the endocrine effects of lithium, the thyroid parameters and the steady state of the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis were tested using the TRH test in 52 patients with maniaco-depressive psychosis with special attention to TSH, prolactin and growth hormone: 24 out of them were treated for 1 month to 6 years by lithium; the 28 others were considered as controls. Read More

J Clin Psychiatry 1978 Sep;39(9):709-11

There is general agreement that hypothyroidism is a possible consequence of lithium treatment but there is little agreement as to what the incidence of lithium related hypothyroidism is, or what clinical and laboratory tests could best be used to evaluate thyroid function. This study involved a survey of 70 clinicians, a chart review of 2,590 patients and a review of the pathophysiology of lithium-induced hypothyroidism. The major finding of this investigation is that lithium related thyroid dysfunction is not a common problem. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Toxicol (Copenh) 1978 Jul;43(1):55-8

The iodide concentrating mechanism, measured as the gland to plasma (G/P) 125I- concentration ratio, was measured in male mouse submandibular glands after the animals had been fed with varying amounts of lithium chloride for intervals ranging from 0 to 8 weeks. After acute exposure (by injection) to lithium the G/P 125I- fell compared to control values and was further depressed at high serum lithium values. Chronic exposure to lithium was characterised by an increase in the G/P 125I- ratios at therapeutic serum lithium concentrations. Read More

J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1976 Sep;43(3):606-13

Seven patients judged to be euthyroid following treatment of diffuse toxic goiter were studied to determine if they were susceptible to lithium induced hypothyroidism. Lithium carbonate was administered for 4-7 weeks in a dosage (900 mg/day) which maintained serum lithium levels between 0.5-1. Read More

Z Gesamte Inn Med 1974 Oct;29(19):802-5

Compr Psychiatry 1969 May;10(3):215-23