Lithium Extends Telomeres
Telomeres sit at the ends of strands of DNA at each chromosome. Various events make telomeres decrease in length: cell division/replication, stress, aging, and depressive episodes in Bipolar II disorder.
Martin Schalling, a professor of medical genetics at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, has found that lithium treatment lengthens telomeres.
Editor’s Note: This finding by Schalling, which will soon be published, adds to the list of beneficial neurobiological effects of lithium, including increasing cell survival factors BDNF and Bcl-2, decreasing cell death factors BAX and p53, increasing marker of neuronal integrity NAA, and possibly increasing hippocampal and cortical grey matter volumes.
Clinically, lithium decreases recurrence of manic and depressive episodes (mania more than depression), decreases suicidality, and may slow cognitive deterioration in those with mild cognitive impairment.
These clinical and neurobiological benefits to lithium treatment should be factored in to calculations of the risk/benefit ratio for lithium use in long-term preventative treatment of bipolar disorder.
