Abstract
Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion is a major cause of age-related vascular cognitive impairment. A well-characterised mouse model has shown that hypoperfusion results in gliovascular and white matter damage and impaired spatial working memory. In this study, we assessed whether cilostazol, a phosphodiesterase III inhibitor, could protect against these changes. Adult, male C57Bl/6J mice were subjected to bilateral common carotid artery stenosis or a sham operation and fed normal or cilostazol diet for three months. Cilostazol treatment reduced the impairment in working memory and white matter function after hypoperfusion. Endothelial adhesion molecules and gliosis, increased after hypoperfusion, were ameliorated with cilostazol treatment. Interestingly, the improvement in working memory was closely correlated with reduced microglia and endothelial adhesion molecules. Further, the number of stroke lesions after hypoperfusion was reduced in the cilostazol-treated group. Altogether cilostazol showed potential to ameliorate the gliovascular damage and working memory impairments after hypoperfusion possibly via endothelial protection supporting its potential use in the treatment of vascular cognitive impairment.
Highlights
Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is a spectrum of age-related cognitive decline caused by vascular factors such as hypertension, atherosclerosis and diabetes[1]
We have shown in this mouse model that cerebral hypoperfusion results in early disruption of axon-glial integrity, myelin damage, microglial proliferation and spatial memory impairment[3, 4] with subsequent (3–6 months) gliovascular unit damage, blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption and small vessel changes[5]
Cilostazol exerted a protective effect against white matter dysfunction and modestly improved spatial working memory at 3 months after cerebral hypoperfusion
Summary
Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is a spectrum of age-related cognitive decline caused by vascular factors such as hypertension, atherosclerosis and diabetes[1]. We have shown in this mouse model that cerebral hypoperfusion results in early (days to weeks) disruption of axon-glial integrity, myelin damage, microglial proliferation and spatial memory impairment[3, 4] with subsequent (3–6 months) gliovascular unit damage, BBB disruption and small vessel changes[5]. This tractable model provides a basis to test potential treatment strategies for VCI. The present study assessed whether cilostazol could protect long-term against the degenerative changes within the gliovascular unit and cognitive impairment induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion and whether it could exert beneficial effects on microvascular inflammation
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