Resveratrol (Res), a natural phenolic compound, has been proven to have a wide variety of beneficial health effects. For example, resveratrol has neuroprotective effects in different central nervous system diseases. However, the mechanisms underlying resveratrol neuroprotection in spinal cord injury (SCI) remain unclear. In this study, we showed that resveratrol treatment improved the restoration of locomotor function, and decreased the degeneration of neurons in SCI mice, which was paralleled by a reduction of apoptosis. We further examined autophagy markers via western blot and immunofluorescence. Results showed that the beneficial effects of resveratrol were related to the promotion LC3II and beclin-1 expression. In addition, autophagy suppression with chloroquine (CQ) partially abolished apoptosis inhibition and locomotor functional improvement of Res on SCI, which indicated that the beneficial effect of resveratrol on SCI was through autophagy enhancement. In conclusion, these results illustrated that the neuroprotective effects of resveratrol in SCI are partially through autophagy stimulation, and implied that Res is a promising drug for SCI therapy.
Keywords: Spinal cord injury; apoptosis; autophagy; chloroquine; resveratrol.