Evidence that phosphoinositide metabolism in rat cerebral cortex stimulated by pilocarpine, physostigmine, and pargyline in vivo is not changed by chronic lithium treatment.

The effect of chronic versus acute administration of lithium on receptor-linked phosphoinositide metabolism was assessed by comparing the change in the cerebral cortex levels of myo-inositol 1-phosphate in response to pilocarpine, physostigmine, or pargyline in rats. Rats were exposed to either 29 consecutive days of LiCl injections or 27 and 39 days of dietary Li2CO3, followed by injected LiCl at the end of the diet to insure a constant level of exposure to the drug. In each experiment, an acute group received a single injection of LiCl 20-24 h before they were killed. One hour before being killed, some of the animals acutely exposed to lithium and some of the animals chronically exposed to lithium each received pilocarpine, physostigmine, or pargyline. At the conclusion of the experiment, the rats were killed and brain levels of myo-inositol 1-phosphate and lithium were determined. A differential production of myo-inositol 1-phosphate in groups receiving acute versus chronic lithium would provide evidence of a change in receptor-linked phosphoinositide metabolism due to the chronic administration of lithium. Brain levels of myo-inositol 1-phosphate are dependent on tissue lithium concentrations; consequently, significant differences observed in brain lithium levels between the groups receiving acute versus chronic lithium prevented a meaningful assessment of the effect of the mode of lithium administration on the production of myo-inositol 1-phosphate in those groups. Stepwise multiple regression analysis and the measured brain lithium levels were used to assess the response of myo-inositol 1-phosphate levels to stimulation in animals receiving acute or chronic lithium treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Evidence that inositol 1-phosphate in brain of lithium-treated rats results mainly from phosphatidylinositol metabolism.

In cerebral cortex of rats treated with increasing doses of LiCl, the relative concentrations of Ins(1)P, Ins(4)P and Ins(5)P (when InsP is a myo-inositol phosphate) are approx. 10:1:0.2 at all doses. In rats treated with LiCl followed by increasing doses of pilocarpine a similar relationship occurs. myo-Inositol-1-phosphatase (InsP1ase) from bovine brain hydrolyses Ins(1)P, Ins(4)P and Ins(5)P at comparable rates, and these substrates have similar Km values. The hydrolysis of Ins(4)P is inhibited by Li+ to a greater degree than is hydrolysis of Ins(1)P and Ins(5)P. D-Ins(1,4,5)P3 and D-Ins(1,4)P2 are neither substrates nor inhibitors of InsP1ase. A dialysed high-speed supernatant of rat brain showed a greater rate of hydrolysis of Ins(1)P than of D-Ins(1,4)P2 and a lower sensitivity of the bisphosphate hydrolysis to LiCl, as compared with the monophosphate. That enzyme preparation produced Ins(4)P at a greater rate than Ins(1)P when D-Ins(1,4)P2 was the substrate. The amount of D-Ins(3)P [i.e. L-Ins(1)P, possibly from D-Ins(1,3,4)P3] is only 11% of that of D-Ins(1)P on stimulation with pilocarpine in the presence of Li+. DL-Ins(1,4)P2 was hydrolysed by InsP1ase to the extent of about 50%; both Ins(4)P and Ins(1)P are products, the former being produced more rapidly than the latter; apparently L-Ins(1,4)P2 is a substrate for InsP1ase. Li+, but not Ins(2)P, inhibited the hydrolysis of L-Ins(1,4)P2. The following were neither substrates nor inhibitors of InsP1ase; Ins(1,6)P2, Ins(1,2)P2, Ins(1,2,5,6)P4, Ins(1,2,4,5,6)P5, Ins(1,3,4,5,6)P5 and phytic acid. myo-Inositol 1,2-cyclic phosphate was neither substrate nor inhibitor of InsP1ase. We conclude that the 10-fold greater tissue contents of Ins(1)P relative to Ins(4)P in both stimulated and non-stimulated rat brain in vivo are the consequence of a much larger amount of PtdIns metabolism than polyphosphoinositide metabolism under these conditions.

Effects of lithium on phosphoinositide metabolism in vivo.

All of the known pathways for metabolizing the phospholipase C (EC 3.1.4.10) products of phosphoinositide metabolism eventually lead to myo-inositol monophosphates and products that are hydrolyzed by myo-inositol 1-phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.25). That enzyme is inhibited by lithium (Ki about 1 mM). In animals treated with LiCl, elevations of myo-inositol 1-phosphate (1-IP) occur in brain that appear to result from endogenous neural activity for they are diminished by the anesthetics halothane and pentobarbital. Lithium is thus a useful tool for assessing endogenous in vivo cerebral phosphoinositide metabolism. The 1-IP elevation is also useful for revealing in vivo central nervous system (CNS) receptor activity that is stimulated by endogenous or exogenous processes such as the effects of centrally acting drugs and of seizures. Stimulation of the CNS in the presence of lithium causes myo-inositol to be sequestered in 1-IP in proportion to the amount of stimulation. Thus if the inositol level falls sufficiently resynthesis of the phosphoinositides may be compromised and receptor response to stimuli may be reduced. Evidence for such an occurrence would support the theory that this is one mechanism by which lithium acts in the therapy of manic illness. We extended our efforts to identify such a lowering of phosphoinositide levels to mice where cerebral metabolism can be halted more rapidly than in rats. However, the only change detected was a small elevation in phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate. We were successful, however, in causing all of the phosphoinositides to be reduced in rat cerebral cortex by pilocarpine stimulation after lithium treatment, a procedure that causes seizures. The same procedure causes the largest reduction in cortical myo-inositol levels that we have observed, and thus may represent the point where the inositol decrement is sufficient to interfere with resynthesis of the lipids.

Analysis of inositol mono- and polyphosphates by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and fast atom bombardment.

The electron ionization spectra of all of the positional isomers of myo-inositol monophosphate and of myo-inositol 1,2-cyclic phosphate were obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of the pertrimethylsilyl derivatives. The fragmentation pattern of pertrimethylsilyl myo-inositol-1-phosphate was studied using deuterium labeling. The phosphate moiety was found to direct fragmentation to produce fragment ions of useful intensity with specific carbon retention. The spectrum of pertrimethylsilyl myo-inositol-1,4-bisphosphate is also described. An electron impact gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric method for myo-inositol-1-phosphate has been developed, which has a sensitivity to a level of 0.1 pmol. The positive and negative ion fast atom bombardment spectra of myo-inositol hexakis(disodium phosphate) and myo-inositol hexakis(dihydrogen phosphate) are described. The lesser-phosphorylated inositol polyphosphates were also studied, including inositol pentakis and inositol tetrakis(dihydrogen phosphates) as well as D-myo-inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate and D-myo-inositol-1,4-bisphosphate from human red blood cells. The sensitivity of fast atom bombardment for the measurement of the latter two substances allows their detection to a level of about 10 nmol. The fast atom bombardment spectrum of synthetic myo-inositol 1,2-cyclic phosphate revealed variable amounts of a dimer produced during its preparation.

Effects of systemically administered lithium on phosphoinositide metabolism in rat brain, kidney, and testis.

A single subcutaneous dose of 10 mEq/kg LiCl gives rise to an increase in the cerebral cortex level of myo-inositol-1-P (I1P) that closely follows cortical lithium levels and, at maximum, is 40-fold above the control value. Kidney and testis show smaller increases in I1P level following LiCl administration. The I1P level is still sixfold greater than that of untreated rat cortex 72 h later. In cortex, parallel increases also occur in myo-inositol-4-P (I4P) and myo-inositol 1,2-cyclic-P (cI1,2P), whereas myo-inositol-5-P (I5P) remains unchanged. The cortical increases in I1P and I4P levels are partially reversed by administering 150 mg/kg of atropine 22 h after the LiCl, treatment that does not affect cI1,2P. When doses of LiCl from 2 to 17 mEq/kg are given, the cerebral cortex levels of I1P and myo-inositol, measured 24 h later, are found to reach a plateau at about 9 mEq/kg of LiCl, whereas cortical lithium levels continued to increase with greater LiCl doses. Levels of all three of the brain phosphoinositides are unchanged by the 10 mEq/kg LiCl dose, as is the uptake of 32Pi into these lipids. Chronic dietary administration of LiCl for 22 days showed that the effects of lithium on I1P and myo-inositol levels persist for that period. Over the course of the chronic administration of the lithium, levels of I1P, myo-inositol, and of lithium in cortex remained significantly correlated. We believe that these increases in inositol phosphates result from endogenous phosphoinositide metabolism in cerebral cortex and that lithium is capable of modulating that metabolism by reducing cellular myo-inositol levels. The size of the effect is a function of both lithium dose and the degree of stimulation of receptor-linked phosphoinositide metabolism. This property of lithium may explain part of its ability to moderate the symptoms of mania. Our chronic study suggests that prolonged administration of LiCl does not result in compensatory changes in myo-inositol-1-P synthase or myo-inositol-1-phosphatase.