Spatial learning and memory in calpastatin-deficient rats

The present experiments were concerned with the examination of the hypothesis that a deficiency in calpastatin, the endogenous inhibitor of calpain, enhances learning and memory performance. In the first experiment we used rats with an altered calpain/calpastatin balance (Milan hypertensive strain, MI-IS, low calpastatin) to investigate the learning and memory of a spatial task in the Morris water maze in comparison with control rats with a normal calpain/calpastatin balance (Milan normotensive strain, MNS). Since the two strains also differ in blood pressure, a third strain of rats was included to assess the role of hypertension (spontaneously hypertensive rats, SHR). Although the acquisition rate of the spatial task was better in the low-calpastatin MI-IS rats than in their normal-calpastatin MNS controls, their performance was similar to that of the SHR rats, thus thwarting the conclusion that differences were due to the low level of calpastatin. The availability of another mutant strain, low-calpastatin level and normotensive (MH.NE), allowed a further examination of the hypothesis. In the second experiment rats of the MH.NE strain acquired the spatial task as well as their normotensive controls, but their memory retrieval was clearly less than that of their normal-calpastatin controls. This deficiency was not due to impaired visual function or a slower swimming speed. The conclusion is that an inbalanced calpain/calpastatin ratio, although favoring calpain activity, is disadvantageous for remembering a spatial task. This disadvantage is clearly overruled when this inbalance is accompanied by hypertension. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.