Lithium is regarded as the gold standard comparator and benchmark treatment for mania. One of the problems associated with Lithium is its narrow therapeutic window. Recent attempts to find new drugs with similar therapeutic activities have yielded new chemical entities. However, these potential new drugs have yet to match the many bioactivities attributable to lithium's efficacy for the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases. Consequently, an intense effort for re-engineering lithium therapeutics using cocrystallization is currently underway. The evaluation of pharmacokinetics of previously unexplored lithium salts with organic anions (lithium salicylate and lithium lactate) has found that these lithium salts exhibit profoundly different pharmacokinetics compared to the more common FDA approved salt, lithium carbonate, in rats. Remarkably, lithium salicylate produced elevated blood and brain levels of lithium beyond 48 hours post-dose without the sharp peak that contributes to the toxicity problems of current lithium therapeutics.
