Interactions of lithium and hydrocortisone in vitro on normal human hematopoiesis.

Lithium salts and glucocorticosteroid hormones stimulate hematopoiesis in vitro and in vivo. In the former circumstance, the impact is demonstrable with concentrations of these substances which reflect physiological and pharmacological conditions. The evident therapeutic benefit of these effects, in patients who experience myelosuppression and pancytopenia with the use of cytotoxic chemotherapy for malignant disease, could be enhanced if the influences of lithium and steroids on blood cell formation were at least additive. However, the observations in this study suggest that these substances can be mutually inhibitory, with respect to hematopoiesis, and do not support the use of lithium and steroids in combination to alleviate iatrogenic reduction in bone marrow function.