Lithium Effects on Brain and Blood
It is available as a dietary supplement and is commonly found in drinking water and in grains, vegetables, mustard, kelp, pistachios, dairy, fish, and meat.
While preclinical trials of lithium show promise for preventing dementia, we do not yet know whether those benefits will extend to humans, especially at low doses. Lithium may increase the activity of stem cells and ramp up the transport of vitamin B12 and folate into cells, which could, in turn, protect the brain. Lithium may increase the number of mitochondria], (i.e., the powerhouse of cells) and increase autophagy, a process by which cells remove waste including the misfolded proteins associated with cognitive decline. Lithium might also protect against Alzheimer's and related dementias by reducing the tau tangles common in Alzheimer’s and some other forms of dementia.
Lithium is a highly reactive, light metal naturally found in very low levels throughout the body. At daily doses between 0.3 to 5 milligrams, it could theoretically protect the brain, but the evidence is limited. Although high doses can cause serious side effects, daily doses below 5 milligrams are relatively low risk.
Abstract
Clinicians have long used lithium to treat manic depression. They have also observed that lithium causes granulocytosis and lymphopenia while it enhances immunological activities of monocytes and lymphocytes. In fact, clinicians have long used lithium to treat granulocytopenia resulting from radiation and chemotherapy, to boost immunoglobulins after vaccination, and to enhance natural killer activity. Recent studies revealed a mechanism that ties together these disparate effects of lithium. Lithium acts through multiple pathways to inhibit glycogen synthetase kinase-3beta (GSK3 beta). This enzyme phosphorylates and inhibits nuclear factors that turn on cell growth and protection programs, including the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and WNT/beta-catenin. In animals, lithium upregulates neurotrophins, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor, neurotrophin-3 (NT3), as well as receptors to these growth factors in brain. Lithium also stimulates proliferation of stem cells, including bone marrow and neural stem cells in the subventricular zone, striatum, and forebrain. The stimulation of endogenous neural stem cells may explain why lithium increases brain cell density and volume in patients with bipolar disorders. Lithium also increases brain concentrations of the neuronal markers n-acetyl-aspartate and myoinositol. Lithium also remarkably protects neurons against glutamate, seizures, and apoptosis due to a wide variety of neurotoxins. The effective dose range for lithium is 0.6-1.0 mM in serum and >1.5 mM may be toxic. Serum lithium levels of 1.5-2.0 mM may have mild and reversible toxic effects on kidney, liver, heart, and glands. Serum levels of >2 mM may be associated with neurological symptoms, including cerebellar dysfunction. Prolonged lithium intoxication >2 mM can cause permanent brain damage. Lithium has low mutagenic and carcinogenic risk. Lithium is still the most effective therapy for depression. It "cures" a third of the patients with manic depression, improves the lives of about a third, and is ineffective in about a third. Recent studies suggest that some anticonvulsants (i.e., valproate, carbamapazine, and lamotrigene) may be useful in patients that do not respond to lithium. Lithium has been reported to be beneficial in animal models of brain injury, stroke, Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal cord injury, and other conditions. Clinical trials assessing the effects of lithium are under way. A recent clinical trial suggests that lithium stops the progression of ALS.
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