Skip to main content
. 2012 Oct 17;7(10):e44117. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044117

Figure 9. Effects of lithium treatment on motor coordination in chloroquine treated mice.

Figure 9

(A) Consistent with our published observations [44], motor coordination deficits were evident in NaCl-treated ECM mice. A one-way ANOVA demonstrated significant group effects on the number of slips on the 1.2 cm beam (F(3, 34) = 11.32; p<0.01), with PbA infection resulting in a significantly higher number of slips than uninfected control mice (Na PbA: 9.33±0.8 v. Na Con: 5±0.6 v. Li Con 4.9±0.4). LiCl treatment ameliorated the impairment in motor coordination in ECM mice as they experienced a significantly lower number of slips on the 1.2 cm diameter beam (Li PbA: 7±0.4 v. Na PbA: 9.33±0.8). LiCl-treated ECM mice still had significantly more slips than uninfected controls. (B) In addition, there were significant group effects on the latency to cross the 1.2 cm diameter beam (Na PbA 9.83±0.6 sec v. Na Con: 6.45±0.3 sec v. Li Con: 7.19±0.3 sec; F(3, 34) = 6.27; p<0.01). Tukey's multiple comparison demonstrated that LiCl-treatment had no effect on the latency to cross the 1.2 cm beam when compared to NaCl-treatment in PbA-infected mice (Li PbA: 8.93±0.6 sec v. Na PbA 9.83±0.6 sec). (C) Although there were no significant differences among the four groups of mice in the number of in slips to cross the 1.8 cm diameter beam (F(3, 34) = 1.56; p = NS), (D) there were significant effects of PbA infection on the latency to cross the 1.8 cm diameter beam compared to uninfected controls to cross the 1.8 cm diameter beam in ECM mice treated with NaCl (Na PbA: 4.91±0.2 v. Na Con: 3.97±0.2 v. Li Con: 3.97±0.1; F(3, 34) = 6.85; p<0.01). Tukey's multiple comparison demonstrated that LiCl-treatment had no effect on the latency to cross the 1.8 cm beam when compared to NaCl-treatment in PbA-infected mice (Li PbA: 4.41±0.2 sec v. Na PbA: 4.91±0.2). (A–D) there were no differences in balance beam performance between LiCl-treated ECM mice and either of the control groups. In addition, both sodium and lithium treated control mice performed similarly in the motor coordination tests. n = 4 Na Con; 12 Na PbA; 12 Li PbA; 10 Li Con. *p<0.05, **p<0.001. Na Con = NaCl treated control, Na PbA = NaCl treated P. berghei ANKA infected mice, Li PbA = LiCl treated P. berghei ANKA infected mice, Li Con = LiCl treated control.