Alzheimer’s disease continues to be one of the most debilitating diseases in the world, and sadly, there is still no cure. With continued investments in researching the disease in hopes of finding a cure, or at least effectively managing symptoms, a recent study suggests that lithium may be the key to developing new treatments.
Lithium and Brain Health
From a medicinal perspective, lithium is best known as a mood stabilizer, being administered to people with bipolar disorder and depression. As a naturally occurring metal in the brain, this article will delve into the possibility of its potential for Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment.
The development of Alzheimer’s is typically associated with the buildup of abnormal protein plaques. Yet, researchers continue to search for other potential factors that may lead to the development of the neurodegenerative condition, and lithium may be just that.
“The idea that lithium deficiency could be a cause of Alzheimer’s disease is new and suggests a different therapeutic approach,” explained senior author Bruce Yankner, professor of genetics and neurology at the Blavatnik Institute at HMS.
Leading a study with researchers from Harvard and Rush University, Yankner and his team fed a low-lithium diet to a group of healthy mice and a group of mice that were genetically designed to develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.
Lithium for Alzheimer’s
Per the findings published in Nature, lithium may be an integral component for brain health, and its absence may lead to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is the first study to suggest that lithium deficiency might contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. The reason this has not been proposed is because it was not believed that lithium is a natural substance in the brain with biological effects, just a drug with pharmacological effects at high doses. As such, this study is the first to explore the consequences of lithium deficiency in the brain.” – Bruce Yankner, Gizmodo
According to Yankner’s and his team’s findings, depleting lithium from the mice seemed to accelerate the accumulation of the abnormal protein plaques, amyloid beta, and tau, in the brain, as well as memory decline. They also found that these plaques may bind to the brain’s lithium, which consequently negatively affects neurological health.
However, Yankner and his team later identified a lithium-based compound – lithium orotate – that didn’t bind as easily to amyloid beta. Now, when they administered this to two groups of mice, it reversed the Alzheimer’s-related damage and even restored memory function.
Lithium and Longevity
“As a neuroscientist, I am excited about exploring the physiology of lithium in the brain. I suspect we have just scratched the surface of what will be some very interesting biology.” – Bruce Yankner
While Yankner and his team are eager to move forward with their research, it’s important to remember that lithium compounds can be toxic in older adults at the clinically tested high doses. As such, the findings still need to be confirmed in humans.,
“A mouse is not a human. Nobody should take anything based just on mouse studies,” Yankner says, “The lithium treatment data we have is in mice, and it needs to be replicated in humans. We need to find the right dose in humans.”
Nonetheless, the findings still suggest that screening for Alzheimer’s risk could also include measuring people’s lithium levels. Another risk factor associated with the condition that’s also generating interest is gender, with studies suggesting that women are more at risk for Alzheimer’s than men.
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