common DNA methylation search of postmortem brain of individuals with schizophrenia and perinatal asphyxia-exposed rat model

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Epidemiological studies suggest that perinatal complications increase the risk of schizophrenia. Recent genetic studies have identified several putative susceptibility genes. It can be postulated therefore that birth complications that cause hypoxia in the fetal brain may be associated with a dysregulation in the expression of schizophrenia susceptibility genes. To test this, we used an animal model of perinatal asphyxia, and examined the expression of mRNA of five susceptibility genes by real-time quantitative PCR in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus at 6 and 12 weeks after birth. The expression of NRG1 mRNA was significantly decreased in the mPFC, but not in the hippocampus. In addition, a significant increase in COMT mRNA expression was observed in the mPFC. These results suggest that perinatal asphyxia may lead to disturbances in the PFC, which in turn may exert a long-lasting influence on the expression of specific genes, such as NRG1 and COMT.