Effects of donepezil on the abilities of learning and memory in mice with vascular dementia

Objective To evaluate whether Donepezil hydrochloride have therapeutic effects on the learning and memory performance and neuronal pathology of hippocampus CA1 region at different time points after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion in mice with vascular dementia(VD).Methods Two hundreds and fifty male Kunming mice were randomly divided into three groups: the sham-operated group,the model group and the donepezil-treated group.VD mice were made by three times of transient ischemia-reperfusion of bilateral common carotid arteries with tail cut.The behavioral tests were done by Morris water maze and step-down probe.The neuronal pathological changes of the hippocampus were observed with HE staining.Results The learning and memory performances of model group were damaged significantly after 4 weeks and 8 weeks post surgery compared to sham-operated group(P0.05).The neuronal pathological injuries in model group were worsen than that in sham-operated group(P0.05).Donepezil hydrochloride attenuated the behavioral and pathological deficits at 4weeks and 8 weeks post-surgery(P0.05).Conclusion Cerebral ischemia and reperfusion can induced severe memory deficits and neuronal degeneration in hippocampus in mice.Donepezil hydrochloride has treating effect on VD mice induced by cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.