Evaluation of Lithium as a Glycogen-Synthase-Kinase-3 (GSK-3) Inhibitor in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2017-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The project is designed to generate critical information to design and justify a robust trial
on lithium prevention of the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lithium exerts and inhibitory
effect on Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) a brain biomarker of neuroprotection. The study
consists of 3 phases:
1. Phase 1 investigates rats to establish a reliable method to measure brain biomarker
activity levels from blood biomarker activity.
2. Phase 2 will determine whether the GSK3 enzyme activity is significantly different in
subjects with MCI compared to normal individuals.
3. Phase 3 investigates patients with MCI taking lithium to establish the minimum lithium
dose required to inhibit the activity of GSK-3.