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Long term management of Bipolar Disorder (BD), characterized by mood fluctuating between episodes of mania and depression, involves regular taking of lithium preparations as the most reliable mood stabilizer for bipolar patients. However, despite its effectiveness in preventing and reducing mood swings and suicidality, lithium has a very narrow therapeutic index, and it is crucial to carefully monitor lithium plasma levels as concentrations greater than 1.2 mmol/L are potentially toxic and can be fatal. Current methods of lithium therapeutic monitoring involve frequent blood tests, which have several drawbacks related to the invasiveness of the technique, comfort, cost, and reliability. Dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) is an accessible and information-rich biofluid, and correlations have been found between blood and ISF levels of lithium medication.In the current study, we sought to investigate optical determination of lithium therapeutic concentrations in samples of ISF extracted from porcine skin utilizing a microneedle-based approach. Monitoring of lithium levels in porcine ISF was achieved by employing a spectrophotometric method based on the reaction between the chromogenic agent Quinizarin and lithium.The resulting spectra show spectral variations which relate to lithium concentrations of lithium in samples of porcine ISF with a coefficient of determination (RThe results support future development of a miniaturized and minimally-invasive device for lithium monitoring in bipolar patients.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the micro-shear bond strength of silorane-based composites after saliva/blood decontamination.A transparent mold (1 × 2 × 1 cm) was used to make 11 flat, silorane-based composite blocks. One block served as the control. After contamination, the blocks were treated as follows: group 1: 10-s air spray; group 2: 10-s water spray + 10-s air spray; group 3: 10-s water spray + 10-s air spray + 10-s etching with phosphoric acid; group 4: 10-s air spray + 10-s etching + bonding; group 5: 10-s water spray + 10-s air spray + 10-s etching + bonding; and groups 6-10: treated the same as groups 1-5, the only difference being that blood was used instead of saliva. Ten tubes (0.7 mm × 1 mm) containing silorane-based composites were attached to each decontaminated block and light cured for 40 s. After 24-h storage in distilled water, specimens were tested under micro-shear loading at a cross-head speed of 0.5 mm/min. Data were analyzed using one-way anova and Tukey's honest significant difference (HSD) test (P0.05).One-way anova showed significant differences in the micro-shear bond strength among the experimental groups (P0.001). Tukey's HSD test revealed that the bond strengths in groups 5, 9, and 10 were similar to the control group (P0.05).Decontamination by water and air spray, etching, and bonding was effective in restoring the bond strength of silorane-based composite increments.