A bi-compartmentl model system for lithium kinetics in mania.

Lithium T½ has been determined from Lp decay. It is clear that calculation of a single T½ from Lp decay is essentially incorrect as the decay is not exponential. The same data points have been analysed on a kinetic model yielding 3 different half lives too. The implication of the study is that the plasma and the erythrocyte systems undergo many local steady states instead of any global steady state. The rate of movement of Li (+) across plasma and erythrocyte undergoes fluctuations and may exhibit many more different half lives over a time period in either direction.