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Pharmacopsychiatry 2018; 51(05): 194-199
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-124436
Review
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Clinical Perspectives of Lithium’s Neuroprotective Effect

Janusz K. Rybakowski
1   Department of Adult Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
,
Aleksandra Suwalska
1   Department of Adult Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
,
Tomas Hajek
2   Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
3   National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

received 24 October 2017
revised 28 November 2017

accepted 05 December 2017

Publication Date:
21 December 2017 (online)

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Abstract

Evidence for a neuroprotective effect of lithium has accumulated over the last 2 decades, and this phenomenon has been regarded as an important mechanism of lithium action in mood disorders. It has been reflected by an increase in cerebral gray matter volume in lithium-treated subjects and by the favorable influence of lithium on cognitive functions. A neuroprotective effect of lithium also makes this ion a possible candidate for use as a therapeutic drug in neurology, especially in neurodegenerative disorders. In this paper, neurochemical mechanisms of neuroprotective action of lithium will be characterized. A possible association between the effect of lithium on brain structures reflected in neuroimaging studies, as well as on cognitive functions, and its neuroprotective action, will be considered. Data from experimental, epidemiological, and clinical studies have also pointed to an antidementia effect of lithium, bringing about some promise of using lithium in the treatment of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. The results of attempts of employing lithium in other neurodegenerative disorders will also be discussed.

Key words

lithium - neuroprotection - Alzheimer’s disease
 

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