Table 1.

Characteristics and results of preclinical studies on intrauterine exposure to lithium

Author (year)	Species/strain	Lithium dosage	Control medication	Exposed period	Follow-up time	Measurements	Results
Brain (1986) [35]	Mice/SW	0.1 or 0.2 mEq s.c.	n.r.	Last 4 days of gestation until PND 4	36 days	Standard opponent test: social, defensive, threatening and aggressive behaviour	No difference
Messiha (1986) [34]	Mice/SD	Lithium 1 mEq solution	Distilled water	G1 until PND 23	37 days	Brain weight	Decrease in brain weight (8.6% female, 8.2% male)
Sechzer (1986) [29]	Rats/SD	2.0 or 4.0 mEq/kg/day in orange juice solution	Orange juice solution	G1 until PND 28	4 months	Eye and ear opening, startle response, depth perception, open field activity	Delayed eye and ear opening, startle response and maturation of depth perception. Less spontaneous activity at 4 months
Rider (1978) [33]	Rats/n.r.	15 mEq/L water	Water and low protein diet	During gestation and lactation (days not specified)	4.5–5.5 months	T-maze performance, avoidance response	Decreased performance on the T-maze, decreased avoidance response
Teixeira (1995) [32]	Rats/W	10 mM in tap water	Tap water (restricted) Tap water ad libitum	Whole gestation period or G1 until PND 21	21 days	Righting reflex, eye opening, cliff avoidance test, motor coordination (rota-rod test)	Delayed righting reflex and eye opening, decreased cliff avoidance, no difference in motor coordination
Abu-Taweel 2012 [30]	Mice/SW	15 or 30 mg/kg/day in water	Distilled water	G1 until PND 15	22 days	Eye opening. Righting reflex, cliff avoidance, rotating reflex, locomotor activity test	Delayed eye opening. Inhibitory dose-dependent effect on sensory motor reflexes and locomotor activity
Nery (2014) [31]	Zebrafish/Daniorerio	0.05 mM, 0.5 mM, 5 mM	System water	G3	10 days	Locomotor activity	Dose-dependent locomotor deficit

s.c. subcutaneous, n.r. not reported, G gestation day, PND postnatal day, SW Swiss Webster, SD Sprague–Dawley, W Wistar