Lithium treatment during pregnancy: a case study of erythrocyte choline content and lithium transport.

Lithium treatment can affect the transport of choline and lithium ions across cell membranes, but little is known about these effects during pregnancy. In a patient treated with lithium carbonate during the final month of pregnancy, maternal erythrocyte (RBC) lithium transport and the choline content of maternal and fetal blood were measured. Fetal RBC choline levels appeared to be substantially elevated by maternal lithium treatment, and cellular lithium transport in the mother was affected by pregnancy. These observations, although preliminary, suggest interactions of lithium with both fetal and maternal physiology during pregnancy.