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Lithium attenuates the activation-euphoria but not the psychosis induced by d-amphetamine in schizophrenia

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Abstract

d-Amphetamine (20 mg) was administered intravenously in a double-blind design to 17 schizophrenic patients with and without concurrent 3-week lithium carbonate pretreatment to evaluate the lithium attenuation of d-amphetamine effects which we had observed in affective disorder patients. Lithium significantly attenuated the acute d-amphetamine-induced changes in an activation-euphoria cluster and in the mannerisms and posturing item of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Because the psychosis-increasing effects of d-amphetamine were not significantly decreased, it is conceivable that the d-amphetamine-induced changes in activation and euphoria and in psychosis are regulated by different dopamine mechanisms. The small clinical effects seen at 3 weeks of lithium treatment in schizophrenic patients could be mediated by dopamine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Daniel P. van Kammen

  2. Veterans Administration Medical Center, Highland Drive, 15206, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Daniel P. van Kammen

  3. NIMH, 5600 Fishers Lane, 20857, Rockville, MD, USA

    John P. Docherty

  4. VA Medical Center, Brentwood, 90073, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Stephen R. Marder

  5. The Depression Treatment Center of Greater Washington, DC, 20814, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Jack E. Rosenblatt

  6. Dept. of Psychiatry, University of California, 92717, Irvine, CA, USA

    William E. Bunney Jr.

Authors
  1. Daniel P. van Kammen
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  2. John P. Docherty
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  3. Stephen R. Marder
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  4. Jack E. Rosenblatt
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  5. William E. Bunney Jr.
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van Kammen, D.P., Docherty, J.P., Marder, S.R. et al. Lithium attenuates the activation-euphoria but not the psychosis induced by d-amphetamine in schizophrenia. Psychopharmacology 87, 111–115 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431789

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431789

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