Estudo do efeito da n-acetilcisteína sobre a toxicidade induzida pelo lítio

Abstract

Lithium carbonate is the main drug used to treat bipolar disorder. This medicine has a narrow therapeutic range and is usually used in a chronic way by the patients, generating the need for therapeutic monitoring by means of plasma lithium quantification. In addition, records of toxic effects from chronic medical use reinforce the need for a tool that assists in the treatment. Thus, a reliable methodology for the quantification of lithium and a therapeutic adjuvant emerge as a means to improve the quality of life of the patient. In our work, we used the flame atomic absorption spectrometer to validate the method for quantification of lithium and the results were satisfactory, because they complied with the required criteria, assuring the reliability of the method. In order to find a therapeutic adjuvant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) was studied for presenting important characteristics against the toxic effects caused by lithium. In our results lithium presented toxic effects mainly inducing oxidative stress, while the coadministration of NAC reversed this effect in the liver, kidney and brain organs. The use of NAC as a therapeutic adjuvant has been shown to be promising, however, further studies need to be performed to better understand this relationship.