Lithium is a drug that is already given to adults and children with bipolar disease, but scientists are still uncertain about how it actually works. However, some new pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place with this study. The researchers found that lithium affects Tppp, a protein that is important for the cytoskeleton and GAD65, a protein that affects the GABA system, which is central to neuronal maturity.
"We're only just beginning to understand lithium's effects on the brain's ability to repair itself," says Ola Hermanson, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet. "In this study we observed that only irradiated cells are affected by lithium. Healthy cells were left relatively untouched. This is an interesting and promising result."
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The study was financed by several bodies, including the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, the Swedish Cancer Society, Region Stockholm, the Märta and Gunnar V. Philipson Foundation, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, the Swedish Brain Fund, the Samariten Foundation for Paediatric Research, the Foundation Frimurare Barnhuset Stockholm, and the Foundation for Child Care.
Publication: "Lithium treatment reverses irradiation-induced changes in rodent neural progenitors and rescues cognition", Zanni Giulia, Goto Shinobu, Fragopoulou Adamantia F, Gaudenzi Giulia, Naidoo Vinogran, Di Martino Elena, Levy Gabriel, Dominguez Cecilia A, Dethlefsen Olga, Cedazo-Minguez Angel, Merino-Serrais Paula, Stamatakis Antonios, Hermanson Ola and Blomgren Klas. Molecular Psychiatry, online 14 November 2019, doi: 10.1038/s41380-019-0584-0.
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