Table 2.

Inhibition of autophagy for neuroprotection and functional recovery in traumatic SCI

Inhibitor of autophagy	Type of SCI model	Mechanisms and outcomes	Reference
VPA	Chronic traumatic SCI in rats	Decrease in autophagic cell death in ventral horn motoneurons and prevention of myelin sheath damage promoted recovery of motor function.	Hao et al., 2013
E2	Acute and subacute traumatic SCI in rats	Inhibition of excessive autophagy (decreases in expression of Beclin-1 and LC3B II) decreased loss of motoneurons leading to neuroprotective effects of E2 and improvement of locomotor function.	Lin et al., 2016
3-MA	Acute hemisection SCI in rats	Inhibitor of autophagy (blockage of formation of autophagosomes via inhibition of PI3K) significantly promoted survival of rubrospinal neurons at remote regions and improved spontaneous functional recovery.	Bisicchia et al., 2017
Ginsenoside Rb1	Acute and subacute traumatic SCI in rats	Inhibition of autophagy (decreases in expression of Beclin-1 and LC3B II) reduced loss of motoneurons and promoted functional recovery.	Wang et al., 2018

3-MA: 3-Methyladenine; E2: 17β-Estradiol; LC3B II: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B; PI3K: class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; SCI: spinal cord injury; VPA: valproic acid.