Kadish I, van Groen T, Wyss J M
Department of Neuroscience and Neurology, University of Kuopio, FIN 70211 Kuopio, Finland.
Learn Mem. 2001 Mar-Apr;8(2):104-11. doi: 10.1101/lm.37301.
This study tested the hypothesis that long-term hypertension impairs spatial learning and memory in rats. In 6-wk-old Sprague-Dawley rats, chronic hypertension was induced by placing one of three sizes of stainless steel clips around the descending aorta (above the renal artery), resulting in a 20-80-mm Hg increase of arterial pressure in all arteries above the clip, that is, the upper trunk and head. Ten months later, the rats were tested for 5 d in a repeated-acquisition water maze task, and on the fifth day, they were tested in a probe trial; that is, there was no escape platform present. At the end of the testing period, the nonsurgical and sham control groups had similar final escape latencies (16 +/- 4 sec and 23 +/- 9 sec, respectively) that were not significantly different from those of the three hypertensive groups. Rats with mild hypertension (140-160 mm Hg) had a final escape latency of 25 +/- 6 sec, whereas severely hypertensive rats (170-199 mm Hg) had a final escape latency of 21 +/- 7 sec and extremely hypertensive rats (>200 Hg) had a final escape latency of 19 +/- 5 sec. All five groups also displayed a similar preference for the correct quadrant in the probe trial. Together, these data suggest that sustained, severe hypertension for over 10 mo is not sufficient to impair spatial learning and memory deficits in otherwise normal rats.
本研究检验了长期高血压会损害大鼠空间学习和记忆能力这一假说。在6周龄的斯普拉格-道利大鼠中，通过在降主动脉（肾动脉上方）环绕三种尺寸的不锈钢夹之一来诱发慢性高血压，导致夹子上方所有动脉（即上躯干和头部的动脉）血压升高20 - 80毫米汞柱。十个月后，对大鼠进行为期5天的重复获取水迷宫任务测试，在第五天，对它们进行探测试验；也就是说，此时没有逃生平台。在测试期结束时，非手术组和假手术对照组的最终逃避潜伏期相似（分别为16±4秒和23±9秒），与三个高血压组的逃避潜伏期无显著差异。轻度高血压大鼠（140 - 160毫米汞柱）的最终逃避潜伏期为25±6秒，重度高血压大鼠（170 - 199毫米汞柱）的最终逃避潜伏期为21±7秒，极重度高血压大鼠（>200毫米汞柱）的最终逃避潜伏期为19±5秒。在探测试验中，所有五组对正确象限也都表现出相似的偏好。总之，这些数据表明，在原本正常的大鼠中，持续10个月以上的重度高血压不足以损害空间学习和记忆能力。
