AMPKα1 overexpression improves postoperative cognitive dysfunction in aged rats through AMPK‐Sirt1 and autophagy signaling

Abstract Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a common complication in elderly patients who undergo surgery involving anesthesia. Its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Autophagy plays an important role in the damage and repair of the nervous system and is associated with the development of POCD. Using a rat model, adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase α1 (AMPKα1), an important autophagy regulator, was found to be significantly downregulated in rats with POCD that was induced by sevoflurane anesthesia or by appendectomy. Overexpression of AMPKα1‐ameliorated POCD, as indicated by decreased escape latencies and increased target quadrant swimming times, swimming distances, and platform crossing times during Morris water maze tests. AMPKα1 overexpression activated autophagy signals by increasing the expression of light chain 3 II (LC3‐II) and Beclin1 and decreasing the expression of p62 in the hippocampus of rats with POCD. Moreover, blocking autophagy by 3‐methyladenine partly attenuated AMPKα1‐mediated POCD improvement. Furthermore, overexpression of AMPKα1 could upregulate the expression of p‐AMPK and Sirt1 in the hippocampus of rats with POCD. Intriguingly, inhibiting AMPK signals via Compound C effectively attenuated AMPKα1‐mediated POCD improvement, concomitant with the downregulation of p‐AMPK, Sirt1, LC3‐II, and Beclin1 and the upregulation of p62. We thus concluded that overexpression of AMPKα1 can improve POCD via the AMPK‐Sirt1 and autophagy signaling pathway.