Mini-review: The anti-aging effects of lithium in bipolar disorder

NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS

卷:759

Review

Salarda, Erika M.¹  Zhao, Ning O.¹  Lima, Camila N. N. C.¹  Fries, Gabriel R.^1,2,3 

[1] Univ Texas Hlth Sci Ctr Houston UTHlth, McGovern Med Sch, Louis A Faillace MD Dept Psychiat & Behav Sci, Houston, TX USA

[2] Univ Texas Hlth Sci Ctr Houston UTHlth, Sch Biomed Informat, Ctr Precis Hlth, Houston, TX USA

[3] Univ Texas MD Anderson Canc Ctr, UTHlth Grad Sch Biomed Sci, Neurosci Grad Program, Houston, TX 77030 USA

关键词: Lithium;    Aging;    Telomere;    Bipolar disorder;    DNA methylation;    Oxidative stress;    Epigenetic age;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136051

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The medical use of lithium has grown since its initial introduction in the 1800s as a treatment for gout. Today, the divalent cation remains as the pharmacological gold standard in treatment of bipolar disorder (BD) with strong mood stabilizing effects. Lithium has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of acute affective episodes, in the reduction of affective episode recurrence, and in significantly decreasing the risk of suicide in patients. BD has been consistently associated with clinical signs of accelerated aging, including increased rates of age-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, malignancies, and diabetes mellitus. This clinical scenario parallels accelerated aging mechanisms observed on a molecular basis, with studies reporting shortened telomeres, increased oxidative stress, and accelerated epigenetic aging in patients with BD compared to controls. Lithium has proved useful as a potential agent in slowing down this accelerated aging process in BD, potentially reversing effects induced by the disorder. This mini-review summarizes findings of anti-aging mechanisms associated with lithium use and provides a discussion of the clinical implications and perspectives of this evolving field. Despite many promising results, more studies are warranted in order to elucidate the exact mechanism by which lithium may act as an anti-aging agent and the extent to which these mechanisms are relevant to its mood stabilizing properties in BD.

【 授权许可】

Free