Effects of lithium on growth, maturation, reproduction and gene expression in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

ABSTRACT Lithium (Li) has been widely used to treat bipolar disorder, and industrial use of Li has been increasing; thus, environmental pollution and ecological impacts of Li have become a concern. This study was conducted to clarify the potential biological effects of LiCl and Li2CO3 on a nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system for evaluating soil contaminated with Li. Exposure of C. elegans to LiCl and Li2CO3 decreased growth/maturation and reproduction. The lowest observed effect concentrations for growth, maturation and reproduction were 1250, 313 and 10 000 µm, respectively, for LiCl and 750, 750 and 3000 µm, respectively, for Li2CO3. We also investigated the physiological function of LiCl and LiCO3 in C. elegans using DNA microarray analysis as an eco‐toxicogenomic approach. Among approximately 300 unique genes, including metabolic genes, the exposure to 78 µm LiCl downregulated the expression of 36 cytochrome P450, 16 ABC transporter, 10 glutathione S‐transferase, 16 lipid metabolism and two vitellogenin genes. On the other hand, exposure to 375 µm Li2CO3 downregulated the expression of 11 cytochrome P450, 13 ABC transporter, 13 lipid metabolism and one vitellogenin genes. No gene was upregulated by LiCl or Li2CO3. These results suggest that LiCl and Li2CO3 potentially affect the biological and physiological function in C. elegans associated with alteration of the gene expression such as metabolic genes. Our data also provide experimental support for the utility of toxicogenomics by integrating gene expression profiling into a toxicological study of an environmentally important organism such as C. elegans. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This study was conducted to clarify the biological effects of lithium compounds on Caenorhabditis elegans. Our findings suggest that LiCl and Li2CO3 potentially affect the biological and physiological function in C. elegans associated with alteration of the gene expression such as cytochrome P450, ABC transporter, glutathione S‐transferase, and lipid metabolism genes. The results also provide experimental support for the utility of toxicogenomics by integrating gene expression profiling into a toxicological study of an environmentally important organism such as C. elegans.