The effect of lithium therapy upon the composition of the human erythrocyte membrane.

The membrane phospholipids and membrane proteins from the erythrocytes of manic depressive patients undergoing lithium therapy and of normal controls were examined by high performance TLC and gel electrophoresis, respectively. The phospholipid composition of the erythrocyte membranes of the normal controls was close to that reported previously. The lipid composition of the erythrocyte membranes of the patients was very similar but differed from the normal controls in that the proportion of sphingomyelin and cholesterol appeared to be lower, whereas phosphatidylserine appeared to be higher in the patients by amounts comparable with the sums of the 95% confidence limits on the measurements. No major differences in the protein composition of the erythrocyte membranes were detected.