The pathogenesis of Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PND) is a synergistic effect of many factors. Up to now, the exact mechanism remains unclear. The dopamine pathway in the brain is one of the paths involved in the means of cognitive function. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between changes in dopamine transporters in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain and postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly rats. In this study, a mental dysfunction model in elderly rats was established after splenectomy under general anesthesia. Eighty male SD rats, aged 18–20 months, with a body mass of 300−500 g. Randomly divided into eight groups: Normal group (Normal, N) and Sham group (sham, S), Model 3 day group(PND, P3), Model 7 day group(PND, P7), Virus 3 days AAV·DAT·RNAi (AAV3), Virus 7 days AAV·DAT·RNAi (AAV7), Virus control for three days AAV·NC(NC3), Virus control for seven days AAV·NC(NC7). The results show that knockdown of dopamine transporter in the VTA region can significantly improve the cognitive dysfunction of elderly rats after surgery. These results suggest that dopamine transporter in the VTA region is involved in cognitive dysfunction in elderly rats. The effect of DAT changes in the VTA region on postoperative cognitive function in elderly rats may be related to the regulation of α-syn and Aβ1−42 protein aggregation in the hippocampus.

围手术期神经认知障碍（PND）的发病机制是多种因素的协同作用。到目前为止，确切的机制仍不清楚。大脑中的多巴胺通路是参与认知功能的途径之一。因此，本研究旨在探讨老年大鼠中脑腹侧被盖区（VTA）多巴胺转运体变化与术后认知功能障碍的关系。本研究在全麻下脾切除后建立老年大鼠精神功能障碍模型。80 只雄性 SD 大鼠，年龄 18-20 个月，体重 300-500 g。随机分为8组：正常组（Normal，N）和Sham组（sham，S），模型3天组（PND，P3），模型7天组（PND，P7），病毒3天AAV·DAT·RNAi (AAV3), 病毒 7 天 AAV·DAT·RNAi (AAV7)，病毒控制 3 天 AAV·NC(NC3)，病毒控制 7 天 AAV·NC(NC7)。结果表明，敲除VTA区多巴胺转运体可显着改善老年大鼠术后认知功能障碍。这些结果表明，VTA 区域的多巴胺转运蛋白与老年大鼠的认知功能障碍有关。VTA区DAT变化对老年大鼠术后认知功能的影响可能与调节海马α-syn和Aβ1-42蛋白聚集有关。这些结果表明，VTA 区域的多巴胺转运蛋白与老年大鼠的认知功能障碍有关。VTA区DAT变化对老年大鼠术后认知功能的影响可能与调节海马α-syn和Aβ1-42蛋白聚集有关。这些结果表明，VTA 区域的多巴胺转运蛋白与老年大鼠的认知功能障碍有关。VTA区DAT变化对老年大鼠术后认知功能的影响可能与调节海马α-syn和Aβ1-42蛋白聚集有关。