Comparison of phencyclidine-induced spatial learning and memory deficits and reversal by sertindole and risperidone between Lister Hooded and Wistar rats

• Lister Hooded rats showed a better spatial memory than Wistar rats.
• PCP induced navigation deficits at lower doses in Lister Hooded than in Wistar rats.
• Sertindole reversed PCP-induced deficits in Lister Hooded but not in Wistar rats.
• Spatial learning and memory deficits are better modeled by PCP in Lister Hooded rats.

Visual learning and memory are one of the key cognitive domains disturbed in schizophrenia. Glutamate NMDA receptors play a crucial role in spatial learning and memory and NMDA receptor antagonists, such as phencyclidine (PCP), impair spatial learning and memory. Pigmented rat strains have superior vision than albino rat strains and are therefore commonly used in visually-demanding cognitive tests. However, all previous water maze experiments using acutely administered PCP to induce schizophrenia-like cognitive deficits have been conducted with albino Wistar rats. This study was designed to assess whether pigmented Lister Hooded (LH) rats would be more suitable in modeling acute PCP-induced deficits in Morris water maze (MWM) task than Wistar rats. We also evaluated whether the efficacy of atypical antipsychotics in reversing PCP-induced spatial navigation deficits was dependent on the rat strain. First, we compared the PCP dose-response in the range of 1.3–2.0 mg/kg (s.c.) at causing deficits in MWM performance. Then, the efficacies of sertindole 1.6 mg/kg (s.c.) and risperidone 0.04 mg/kg (s.c.) in reversing PCP-induced spatial navigation deficits were investigated. Drug-naïve LH rats showed a better spatial memory than Wistar rats. Furthermore, PCP induced deficits in spatial navigation at lower doses in LH than in Wistar rats. In addition, PCP-induced deficits were partly reversed by sertindole in LH but not in Wistar rats. Our results suggest that the deficits in spatial learning and memory that resemble memory deficits found in schizophrenia patients are better modeled by PCP in LH rats than Wistar rats.