Protective effect of vitamin C on DNA damage in surgery-induced cognitive dysfunction in APP/PS1 mice

Postoperative cognitive impairment is more likely to occur in elderly patients and in those with neurodegenerative diseases. The mechanisms underlying this impairment include neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. The increase in reactive oxygen species during oxidative stress causes cellular and molecular injury to neurons, including DNA damage, which aggravate brain dysfunction. Vitamin C has antioxidant effects and improves cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease. However, it is unclear whether it can ameliorate surgery-induced cognitive impairment by inhibiting oxidative stress. In this study, 6-month-old mice overexpressing mutant amyloid precursor protein and presenilin-1 (APP/PS1) were subjected to laparotomy. The open field and fear conditioning tests were used to assess cognitive function. Mice that underwent surgery showed cognitive impairment without changes in spontaneous locomotor activity. Oxidative stress, DNA damage and inflammatory mediators were increased in the hippocampus after surgery. The expression levels of non-homologous end-joining DNA repair-associated proteins, including Ku heterodimer, DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit, X-ray repair cross complementing 4 (XRCC4) and XRCC4-like factor, were increased after surgery. Vitamin C pretreatment effectively attenuated cognitive dysfunction induced by surgery and reduced oxidative stress and DNA damage. Our findings suggest that DNA damage plays an important role in surgery-induced cognitive dysfunction, and that vitamin C pretreatment may have therapeutic potential as a preventative approach for the cognitive impairment.