Potential mechanisms underlying lithium treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19

H.-F. Wei, S. Anchipolovsky, R. Vera, G. Liang, D.-M. Chuang

Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Huafeng.wei@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

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• Infectious Diseases
• Psychiatry

Disruption of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis plays an important role as an upstream pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and correction of Ca2+ dysregulation has been increasingly proposed as a target of future effective disease-modified drugs for treating AD. Calcium dysregulation is also an upstream pathology for the COVID-19 virus SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication, leading to host cell damage. Clinically available drugs that can inhibit the disturbed intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis have been repurposed to treat COVID-19 patients. This narrative review aims at exploring the underlying mechanism by which lithium, a first line drug for the treatment of bipolar disorder, inhibits Ca2+ dysregulation and associated downstream pathology in both AD and COVID-19. It is suggested that lithium can be repurposed to treat AD patients, especially those afflicted with COVID-19.

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