[Advances in mechanisms of treatment for spinal cord injury with lithium]

Spinal cord injury is a serious disabling disease caused by a series of internal and external factors in the field of orthopaedics and neuroscience, which is a big problem for doctors all over the world. Lithium has been used to treat dipolar disorder for over 100 years. It has been reported that lithium is benefit for brain neuron. The treatment effect for spinal cord injury gets more and more attention. Researches indicate that lithium is benefit for spinal cord injury by protecting neuron,reducing after-injury inflammation increasing the produce and release of neurotrophins, stimulating neurogenesis, enhancing autophagy and inhibiting apoptosis. This article summaries advances in mechanism of treatment for spinal cord injury with lithium by reviewing and analyzing researches. Therapy combined with lithium has a good application prospect.