Amiloride in the Treatment of Lithium-Induced Diabetes Insipidus

To the Editor: Although the exact mechanism of the antidiuresis demonstrated by Batlle et al. (Feb. 14 issue)¹ is unclear, their suggested treatment protocol for lithium-induced diabetes insipidus seems effective. It may have practical and theoretical advantages over approaches using free-water deprivation or thiazide diuretics. Amiloride has a broad range of biologic effects and inhibits many cation-transport systems.² With lithium-loaded human erythrocytes used as a model system, it has recently been demonstrated that a single genetic locus called “amiloride inhibitable lithium transport” (AILT) modifies lithium movements across these cells³ (and unpublished data). Nine per cent of the general population of.