Does Low-Dose Lithium Carbonate Slow Cognitive Decline in Mild Cognitive Impairment?

Evidence remains insufficient to recommend low-dose lithium carbonate for patients with MCI. This negative result may not generalize to lithium orotate, which preclinical work suggests resists sequestration by amyloid plaques. Low-dose lithium carbonate missed significance on all six co-primary outcomes in a 2-year mild cognitive impairment (MCI) trial. Delayed recall declined half as fast on lithium, short of the trial's predefined threshold of p = 0.01. Between 60% and 70% of the 80 participants were beta-amyloid negative, so most probably lacked Alzheimer's pathology. Exploratory analyses in the amyloid-positive subset showed trends toward larger effects, though numbers were very small.