{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T01:03:16Z","timestamp":1788138196392,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":9,"publisher":"Royal College of Psychiatrists","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781740800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["cambridge.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Br J Psychiatry"],"abstract":"Summary<\/jats:title>\n \n The recent study by Aron et al about lithium deficiency and the onset of Alzheimer\u2019s disease provides a valuable explanatory framework for understanding how very small doses of lithium, delivered via environmental exposure, can exert neuroprotective effects. It also contains results which will need to be reconciled with foundational chemistry and existing evidence and which could be potentially misleading. The suggestion that lithium orotate (LiO) exhibits benefits relative to the more traditionally used lithium carbonate (LiC) requires further scrutiny in light of the following arguments: (a) no study has demonstrated the presence of stable LiO in physiological fluids; (b) acid\u2013base chemistry predicts that LiO will be largely protonated in the stomach, causing it to dissociate and be absorbed as Li\n +<\/jats:sup>\n ; (c) experimental studies indicate that LiO and LiC have comparable pharmacokinetics after oral administration; and (d) previous research has shown that LiC also has neuroprotective effects, including at very low doses. Disproportionate focus on a specific lithium salt could have safety implications and may distract from answering fundamental questions about the effects of very low doses of lithium. More experiments are needed to provide evidence of a stable LiO complex in physiological fluids before this becomes the main form of lithium in future clinical trials.\n <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1192\/bjp.2026.10699","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T12:33:27Z","timestamp":1781786007000},"page":"1-3","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/policypage","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Lithium orotate: distinct compound or simply Li\n +<\/sup>\n after administration?"],"prefix":"10.1192","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0281-8458","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tomas","family":"Hajek","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01e6qks80","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Dalhousie University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"S\u00f8ren","family":"Munthe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Retired Analytical Chemist"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rasmus W.","family":"Licht","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aalborg University Hospital"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"170","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s40345-024-00348-5"},{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-025-09335-x"},{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1192\/bjp.2019.76"},{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref5","first-page":"104","article-title":"Microdose lithium treatment stabilized cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer\u2019s disease","volume":"10","author":"Nunes","year":"2013","journal-title":"Curr Alzheimer Res"},{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF03160910"},{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1476-5381.1976.tb07449.x"},{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2174\/1567205013666160219112712"},{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0142267"},{"key":"S0007125026106990_ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1192\/bjp.bp.110.080044"}],"container-title":["The British Journal of Psychiatry"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S0007125026106990","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T12:33:28Z","timestamp":1781786008000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S0007125026106990\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"references-count":9,"alternative-id":["S0007125026106990"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1192\/bjp.2026.10699","relation":{},"ISSN":["0007-1250","1472-1465"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0007-1250","type":"print"},{"value":"1472-1465","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"assertion":[{"value":"\u00a9 The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists","name":"copyright","label":"Copyright","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original article is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press or the rights holder(s) must be obtained prior to any commercial use.","name":"license","label":"License","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This content has been made available to all.","name":"free","label":"Free to read"}]}}