Effect of separate and combined treatment with chlorpromazine and lithium on mouse liver alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase.

The effect of short-term intake of LiCl in drinking water on mouse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (L-ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (L-ALDH) was studied in the albino and in the C57BL mouse strain. The Li-treatment induced initially mitochondrial L-ALDH which was followed by L-ADH in the albino mouse. This was not apparent in the C57 mouse strain. There was an induction of hepatic L-ADH and L-ALDH in the C57BL mouse subsequent to short-term administration of chlorpromazine (CPZ). Coadministration of LiCl with CPZ resulted in moderate enhancement of enzymatic activity per mg wet liver tissue from corresponding controls. Chlorpromazine inhibited rat liver and testicular ADH when tested in vitro. Both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial ALDH were not altered by CPZ in vitro. The results suggest that alcohol consumption during treatment with both drugs studied could evoke metabolic adverse reactions which appear to be both species and strain dependent.