Abstract: Objective: To study the protective effect of erythropoietin(Epo) on the expression of cholinergic neural fiber in vascular dementia(VD) rat model. Methods: VD rat models were established by two-vessel occlusion and salium nitroprusside and they were treated by Epo. The Morris labyrinth, Nissl, acetylcholinesterase(AchE) histochemistric staining and AchE activity assessment methods were used to determine the influence of Epo on the study and memory, cellular morphous and AchE expression. Results: Compared with the sham-operative group and the Epo-treatment group, Epo significantly shortened the escaping latency of the Morris labyrinth and increased the number of neurons, Nissl bodies, AchE positive neurons fibers and AchE activity in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of the VD model group（P＜0.01 and P＜0.05). Conclusion: Epo can improve the insults of praxiology and pathology of VD rats, which may be related to its protection of AchE neural fibers.

Key words: Erythropoietin, Dementia, vascular, Morris water maze, Acetylcholinesterase, Rat, Wistar