Autophagy activation aggravates neuronal injury in the hippocampus of vascular dementia rats

It remains unclear whether autophagy affects hippocampal neuronal injury in vascular dementia. In the present study, we investigated the effects of autophagy blockade on hippocampal neuronal injury in a rat model of vascular dementia. In model rats, hippocampal CA1 neurons were severely damaged, and expression of the autophagy-related proteins beclin-1, cathepsin B and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 was elevated compared with that in sham-operated animals. These responses were suppressed in animals that received a single intraperitoneal injection of wortmannin, an autophagy inhibitor, prior to model establishment. The present results confirm that autophagy and autophagy-related proteins are involved in the pathological changes of vascular dementia, and that inhibition of autophagy has neuroprotective effects.