The lack of metal lithium in the body can be a key factor contributing to the development of dementia in Alzhermer’s patients, reveals an innovative new study.
The decade study published in the magazine NatureIt shows for the first time that the lithium is naturally found in the brain and maintains the normal function of all its basic types of cells, preventing nerve breakdown.
Scientists at Harvard Medical School have found that lithium loss in the human brain is one of the worst changes leading to that of Alzheimer’s, while in mice such lithium exhausted accelerated memory decline.
In some cases, a decreased level of lithium has been found due to impaired absorption of metal and its binding to amyloid plaques, which are known to smoke pistol signs of Alzheimer’s.
Researchers have also shown that a new type of lithium compound – lithium orotate – can avoid capturing through amyloid plaques and restoring memory in mice.
Top order: In Misha model of Alzheimer’s disease, lithium deficiency (right) drastically increases amyloid beta deposits in the brain compared to mice that have normal physiological levels of lithium (left) lower row: the same applies to Alzheimer’s neurofibrillary protein. (Yankner Lab)
In the study, scientists used an advanced type of chemical analysis of mass spectroscopy to measure levels of traces of about 30 different metals in the brain and blood samples by a number of people, including cognitively healthy people, those at an early stage of dementia and those with advanced Alzheimer.
The analysis revealed that lithium is the only metal with significantly different levels in groups, which also seems to change in the most stages of memory loss.
“Lithium is like other nutrients we get from the environment, such as iron and vitamin C,” said senior study author Bruce Yankner.
“This is the first time one shows that the lithium has existed at a natural level, which is biologically significant without giving it as a medicine,” said Dr. Yankner.
Although lithium compounds are used historically for the treatment of a number of mental conditions such as bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, in these cases they are given at much higher concentrations that could even be toxic to the elderly.
Lithium deficiency thinned myelin that covers the neurons (right) compared to normal mice (left) (Laboratory Yankner)
Scientists have now found that lithium orotate is effective in one thousand this dose-supply to mimic the natural level of lithium in the brain.
However, the latest discoveries with lithium orotate must be confirmed in humans through clinical trials.
However, researchers suspect that measuring lithium levels can help screening people for early Alzheimer’s.
The findings review Alzheimer’s disease theory, which affects nearly 400 million people worldwide, offering a new strategy for early diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
Decades of studies have shown that Alzheimer’s disease includes an array of brain abnormalities, including lumps of beta amyloid protein, tau protein and loss of brain protein.
However, these anomalies have never fully explained the condition.
Lithium is the only metal that differs significantly between people with and without mild cognitive damage, often a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease (Aron et al.
For example, it remains unclear why some people with changes to Alzheimer’s brain never continue to develop dementia or cognitive decline.
The latest treatments designed to target amyloid beta plaques also do not seem to turn to memory loss, but only modestly reduces the rate of cognitive decline.
Scientists now say that lithium can be a critical missing relationship.
“The idea that lithium deficiency can be the cause of Alzheimer’s disease is new and implies a different therapeutic approach,” said Dr. Yankner.
“You have to be careful about the extrapolation of mice models and you never know until you try it in a controlled clinical trial in humans … But so far the results are very encouraging,” he added.