Work on the discovery lasted almost a decade. Scientists from the Harvard Medical School say they have found a key that can solve many secrets of Alzheimer's disease and brain aging – lit.
Lit is best known in medicine as a mood stabilizer given to people with bipolar disorder and depression. He was approved by the American Food and Drug Agency (FDA) in 1970, but doctors used it to treat mood disorders much earlier.
Scientists have shown that lithium is natural in small quantities and that cells need it for proper functioning – like vitamins C or iron. It also seems that it plays a key role in maintaining brain health.
In a series of experiments, the results of which were published on Wednesday in the journal “Nature”, scientists from the universities of Harvard and Rush discovered that The elimination of lithium from the mouse diet caused them to develop inflammation and changes related to accelerated aging – says CNN.
Lit and Alzheimer's disease
In mice that have been specially grown so that they develop the same changes in the brain as people with Alzheimer's disease, a low diet in lithium accelerated the accumulation of “sticky proteins”, which form the baking trans and spots in the brain, characteristic of this disease. She also accelerated memory loss.
However, maintaining a normal lithium level in mice as they aged protected them against changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease.
If further studies confirm these findings, it can open the way to new methods of treatment and diagnostic tests of Alzheimer's disease.
These studies provide a unified theory, which helps to explain many elements of the puzzle, which scientists have been trying to put together for decades.
In an article published in the journal “Nature” by Dr. Ashley Bush, a neurobiologist managing the Center for Demacy Research at Melbourne at the University of Melbourne, Australia, stated that scientists “present convincing evidence that the lithium actually plays a physiological role and that normal aging can disturb the regulation of the level of lithium in the brain.” Bush did not participate in the study.
A thorough analysis of human and animal brain tissues, along with genetic studies, revealed a mechanism that seems to play a role: beta-amyloid plaques-sticky deposits that clog the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease-bind to lithium and stop it. This bond reduces lithium resources available for nearby cells, including important cells called microgles.
Alzheimer's disease. Causes, treatment, tests
When the brain is healthy and functions properly, the microgle is the waste management function, removing beta-amyloid before it has to accumulate and cause damage. In the latest study, the microgle of the brain of mice with lithium deficiency showed a reduced ability to remove and distribute beta-amyloid.
The accumulation of beta-amyloid causes the absorption of more and more lithium, which further impairs the brain's ability to remove it.
In the study, scientists tested various lithium compounds and found one-lithium orotan-which is not associated with beta-amyloid.
After giving litan orothane to mice with the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in the brain, these changes were reversed: the number of beta-amyloid plates and tau's tangles, which blocked memory centers in the brain, reduced. Mice treated with lithium were able to move on mazes again and learn to recognize new objects, while no changes in memory deficits and thinking were observed at Mice receiving placebo.
Source: CNN
