Sodium-phosphate cotransporter in lithium therapy for the treatment of mental illness
OwnerRobert B. Gunn, Richard T. Timmerinventors
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Abstract
The sodium-phosphate cotransporter existing on virtually every human cell is identified as the same protein as the lithium-sodium counterttransporter, and is suitable for diagnostic assays for mental illnesses susceptible to lithium therapy, including manic depression.
Claims22
A purified DNA molecule coding for a lithium-sodium countertransporter.
A purified DNA molecule coding for an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of hPiT-1, hPiT-2, and hBNPI, said molecule useful for measuring lithium-sodium countertransport in human cells.
A human amphotrophic retrovirus receptor useful as a lithium-sodium countertransporter.
A method of evaluating sensitivity to lithium therapy in manic depressive patients, comprising the steps of
- (a) providing a sample of patient blood;
- (b) extracting from the blood sample the patient's DNA;
- (c) subjecting the DNA to hybridization with primers specific for any sequence coding for lithium-sodium countertransporter;
- (d) polymerizing said sequences, to give polymerized sequences;
- (e) amplifying said polymerized sequences, to give an amplified sample of patient sequences;
- (f) digesting the amplified sample with one or more restriction endonucleases suitable for mapping sites on the DNA indicating susceptibility to lithium therapy.
A method of evaluating sensitivity to lithium therapy in manic depressive patients, comprising the steps of
- (a) providing a sample of patient blood;
- (b) extracting from the blood sample the patient's DNA;
- (c) subjecting the DNA to hybridization with primers specific for any sequence coding for lithium-sodium countertransporter;
- (d) polymerizing said sequences, to give polymerized sequences;
- (e) amplifying said polymerized sequences, to give an amplified sample of patient sequences;
- (f) subjecting the amplified sample to in vitro membrane-based translation to give a translated sample within a cell;
- and
- (g) subjecting the translated sample to flux analysis of lithium, to evaluate sensitivity to lithium therapy in manic depressive patients.
A method of evaluating sensitivity to lithium therapy in manic depressive patients, comprising the steps of
- (a) providing a sample of patient blood;
- (b) isolating the erythrocytes;
- (c) subjecting the erythrocytes to flux analysis of lithium, to evaluate sensitivity to lithium therapy in manic depressive patients.
A method of evaluating lithium-sodium countertransport in patients with mental illness, comprising the steps of
- (a) providing a sample of patient blood;
- (b) isolating the erythrocytes;
- (c) subjecting the erythrocytes to flux analysis of lithium, to evaluate lithium-sodium countertransport.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.