Figure 6. Effect of lithium treatment on pituitary hormones and body weight gain.

A. Body weight in the vehicle-treated control and irradiated rats showed body weight gain was slow at 4 weeks, and this difference was still significant at 16 weeks after irradiation. B. Similar trend in body weight gain in lithium-treated rats as for the vehicle-treated rats (n = 14 for control vehicle, n = 16 for control lithium, n = 16 for irradiation vehicle, and n = 18 for irradiation lithium). C. The pituitary hormones TSH, ACTH, prolactin and BDNF in serum increased with age and were significantly higher at about 6 weeks after birth, and irradiation prevented the developmentally associated increases in pituitary hormones. D. Lithium treatment prevented irradiation-induced pituitary TSH reduction and BDNF increase at 5 weeks after irradiation (n = 6/group). *p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001