[Mechanism of action of lithium salts on the ethanol predilection by rats].

Lithium chloride with its intraperitoneal administration to rats in a dose of 35 mg/kg, twice a day for 14 days, is shown to suppress predelection for ethanol formed by a 2-month consumption of its 5% solution. This effect of the lithium salt correlates with normalization of the activity displayed by central biorhythms regulators--neurosecretory hypothalamus, nuclei, earlier disorganized by ethanol. A possible relation between the ability of the lithium salts to normalize the central regulation of the biorhythms and their high therapeutic effectiveness in dealing with affective disturbances with a periodic course is discussed.