Lithium research: does it lead to an integrative hypothesis for the manic-melancholic disorders?

1. The effects of lithium on electrolyte metabolism can be demonstrated in man in acute as well as in long-term lithium treatment. 2. It seems feasible to integrate these lithium effects with effects on biogenic amines to form an integral hypothesis for lithium action in manic-malancholic man. 3. The results are consistent with one of the following two hypotheses: a) that lithium acts by membrane stabilization and/or b) that lithium acts by interplay with magnesium or one or more enzymes. 4. The above findings and hypotheses direct attention to membrane dyfunction as the basic defect in manic-melancholic states. This may find support in preliminary findings of special HL-A profiles in unipolar and bioplar manic-melancholic patentis. 5. A four-type pump-defect model may theoretically account for the various clinical types of affective disorders.