Prescribed in very light doses, lithium can stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. An effect confirmed in rats by Quebec researchers.
Would lithium have benefits in the management of Alzheimer’s disease? The question arises in the scientific ranks, which has sparked lively debate.
McGill researchers from Montreal * tested this molecule in rats ” transgenics expressing the human mutant proteins responsible for Alzheimer’s disease “. Note that in rodents as in humans, Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain associated with a deterioration of cognitive functions.
Cognitive abilities restored
The study was carried out in rats suffering from this advanced neurodegenerative pathology *. Initially, the team of Drs. Claudio Cuello and Edward Wilson administered lithium in very large doses, equivalent to those prescribed for mood disorders. As a result, noticeable side effects appeared in rats.
In a second step, the scientists carried out the same experiment, dividing the doses by 4. Result, the lithium interrupted ” pathological signs of advanced Alzheimer’s disease, such as amyloid plaques, and restore cognitive abilities “.
And in humans?
What effect would lithium have in Alzheimer’s patients? According to Dr. Cuello, ” drug unlikely to reverse irreversible brain damage in clinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease, but treatment with microdoses of encapsulated lithium may well have tangible benefits in early preclinical stages“.
And in the near future, Dr. Cuello intends to assess the benefits of lithium in combination with other molecules. But also initiate clinical trials to test lithium ” in populations with a pre-clinical condition detectable or genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease, such as adults with Down syndrome (trisomy 21) “.
*Department of pharmacology and therapeutics
**In 2017, a study in mice revealed these same benefits at an early stage of the disease
(Translational Psychiatry). The same effect was observed in rats suffering from Huntington’s disease, a serious hereditary neurological disease causing motor, cognitive and psychiatric disorders.
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