Microdose Lithium Treatment Reduced Inflammatory Factors and Neurodegeneration in Organotypic Hippocampal Culture of Old SAMP-8 Mice

• Published in: Cellular and molecular neurobiology Vol. 41; no. 7; pp. 1509 - 1520
• Main Authors: Toricelli, Mariana, Evangelista, Sebastiana Ribeiro, Buck, Hudson Sousa, Viel, Tania Araujo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - drug therapy; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Alzheimer's disease; Animal models; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Cell Biology; Cell culture; Cell Death - drug effects; Disease Models, Animal; Gene expression; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - drug effects; Hippocampus - metabolism; Inflammation; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 6; Lithium; Lithium - pharmacology; Macrophage inflammatory protein; Mice, Transgenic; Neurobiology; Neurodegeneration; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurons - drug effects; Neurons - metabolism; Neuroprotection; Neuroprotective Agents - pharmacology; Neurosciences; NF-κB protein; Original Research; Phenylmercury Compounds - pharmacology; Propidium iodide; Senescence; Toxicity; Transgenic mice; Neuroprotection; Inflammaging; Lithium; Neuroinflammation; SAMP-8; Hippocampus
• ISSN: 0272-4340; 1573-6830
• DOI: 10.1007/s10571-020-00916-0

It was already shown that microdoses of lithium carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 ) promoted memory stabilization in humans and mice. Prolonged treatment also reduced neuronal loss and increased the density of the neurotrophin BDNF in transgenic mice for Alzheimer’s disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether lithium ions affect inflammatory profiles and neuronal integrity in an animal model of accelerated senescence (SAMP-8). Organotypic hippocampal cultures obtained from 11 to 12-month-old SAMP-8 mice were treated with 2 µM, 20 µM and 200 µM Li 2 CO 3 . 2 µM Li 2 CO 3 promoted a significant reduction in propidium iodide uptake in the CA2 area of hippocampus, whereas 20 µM promoted neuroprotection in the CA3 and GrDG areas. 200 µM caused an increase in cellular death, showing toxicity. Measured with quantitative PCR, IL-1α, IL-6 and MIP-1B/CCL-4 gene expression was significantly reduced with 20 µM Li 2 CO 3 , whereas IL-10 gene expression was significantly increased with the same concentration. In addition, 2 µM and 20 µM Li 2 CO 3 were also effective in reducing the activation of NFkB and inflammatory cytokines densities, as evaluated by ELISA. It is concluded that very low doses of Li 2 CO 3 can play an important role in neuroprotection as it can reduce neuronal loss and neuroinflammation in older individuals.