Resveratrol Reverses the Synaptic Plasticity Deficits in a Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion Rat Model

Background Dementia is the most prevalent neurological disease in aged people. Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) is one of the causes of vascular dementia (VaD) and is also an etiological factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, effective therapy for those two diseases is still missing. Resveratrol is a polyphenol produced by plants that have multiple biological functions, such as increased life span and delay in the onset of diseases associated with aging. It is known supplement with resveratrol could exert neuroprotection against multiple injury factors induced neuronal death and degeneration, as well as the cognitive decline of CCH rat model. Methods The morris water maze was used to evaluate the learning and memory, electrophysiological recording was used to detect the synaptic plasticity, the Golgi staining was used to examine the change of dendritic spines, the western blot was used to detect the proteins levels. Results We reported that resveratrol pretreatment effectively restore the synaptic plasticity in CCH rats both functional and structural. We also found that the PKA-CREB activation may be a major player in resveratrol-mediated neuroprotection in CCH model. Conclusions Our data provide the mechanistic evidence for the neuroprotective effects of resveratrol in vascular dementia.