The Effect of Organic Lithium Salts on Plasma 8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine in Bipolar Patients In Vitro

Abstract

Objective: An important step in the development of new drugs for the treatment of bipolar disorder (BD) is the study of the extent to which novel lithium salts whose anionic component has an antioxidant effect can reduce oxidative DNA damage in human blood plasma in vitro. We investigated the effects of lithium salts containing different organic anionic components (lithium carbonate (Li-CAR), pyruvate (Li-PYR), succinate (Li-SUC), fumarate (Li-FUM) and ascorbate (Li-ASC)) on levels of the oxidative damage product of DNA-8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) in blood plasma after incubation of blood samples from healthy individuals (healthy group) and patients with bipolar disorder (BD-group) with these chemical compounds.

Methods: Blood incubation was carried out in the presence of lithium salts (1.2 mM) for 1 hour at 37°C. Measurement of 8-OH-dG concentrations in blood plasma was carried out by enzyme immunoassay using a DNA Damage Competitive Elisa Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA).

Results: In samples without compounds (control), concentrations of 8-OH-dG in the BD-group did not differ from the group of healthy individuals. None of the tested compounds had a significant effect on 8-OH-dG in healthy individuals. In BD patients, Li-PYR significantly reduced levels of plasma 8-OH-dG, while other compounds did not have a noticeable effect.

Conclusion: Lithium pyruvate reduces oxidative DNA damage in the blood of BD patients in vitro, demonstrating the potential of this compound to function not only as a mood stabilizer, but also as an antioxidant and cytoprotector.

Keywords: 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG); bipolar disorder; blood plasma; lithium; pyruvate.