Autophagy inhibitor 3-MA protects neurons against NMDA excitotoxcity. A) Phase contrast images indicates the changes in the morphology of neurons following 16 h treatment with NMDA (200 μM) (middle panel), NMDA (200 μM) + 3-MA (10 mM) (right panel) and Control (left panel). With control CGN, arrows (yellow) indicate healthy cell body morphology while arrow heads (yellow) indicate healthy neurites. With NMDA treatment, red arrows and red arrow heads indicate degenerative neurons and apoptotic bodies, respectively. With NMDA+3 MA treatment, yellow arrow and yellow arrow heads represent relatively preserved cell bodies and neurites. Images are taken at 400× magnification. Scale bar represents 20 μm. B) LDH release recorded and plotted after incubating cerebellar neurons in culture in NMDA (open diamond), NMDA+3-MA (black square) and control (open circle). The expressed values are means ± S.E.M. (n = 6). *p < 0.05, ANOVA, NMDA group is significantly higher than control (Ctrl); and #p < 0.05, ANOVA, NMDA+3 MA group is significantly lower than NMDA challenge group).