In a mouse study, a low dose of lithium was enough to reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
People with disease of Alzheimer They have lower levels of lithium in the brain than those who do not suffer from cognitive disturbance. In addition, a deficiency of this metal seems to accelerate amyloid plates accumulation and memory loss.
However, this scenario can be inverted with a small dose of lithium.
It is the conclusion of a study this Wednesday in Naturewhich suggests that lithium deficiency may be a determining factor of Alzheimer’s disease and that even low lithium doses can help treat it.
As detailed to, the investigation analyzed the levels of 27 metals in the brains of 285 people after their death, 94 of which were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and 58 had a light cognitive deficit, a precursor of the disease. The other participants did not show signs of cognitive decline at the time of their death.
Lithium levels in the prefrontal cortex-a crucial brain region for memory and decision making-were, on average, about 36% lower in people with Alzheimer’s disease than in those without any cognitive decline. In people with light cognitive deficit, lithium levels were about 23% lower.
To understand how lithium influences cognition, the team has genetically created 22 rats to develop symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease and reduced their lithium intake by 92%.
About eight months, the mice had a significantly worse performance in various memory testscompared to 16 mice with a normal diet.
Lithium -deficient rats took about 10 seconds to find a platform hidden in a water maze, for example, even after six days of training. His brains also contained almost twice and a half more amyloid plates.
Genetic analysis of lithium -deficient mice brain cells revealed Increased activity of genes related to neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease.
They also had more brain inflammation and their immunity cells were less able to eliminate amyloid plates – Changes also observed in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
The team then analyzed different compounds of lithium to verify their ability to connect with the amyloid and found that the Lithium Orotato – A compound that occurs naturally in the body, formed by the combination of lithium with orotic acid – seemed to be the least likely to get stuck in the plates.
Nine months of treatment with this compound They significantly reduced plaques in mice with symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer’s diseasewhich also performed as good in memory tests as normal mice.
As New Scientist highlights, these results suggest that the Lithium Orotato It can be a Promising treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
The same magazine recalls that high doses of different lithium compounds are currently used to treat some psychiatric diseases, such as the bipolar disease.
