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

流行病学研究表明，围产期并发症会增加患精神分裂症的风险。最近的遗传学研究已经确定了几个可能的易感基因。因此，可以推测，导致胎儿大脑缺氧的出生并发症可能与精神分裂症易感基因的表达失调有关。为了验证这一点，我们使用了围产期窒息的动物模型，并在出生后6周和12周用实时定量聚合酶链式反应检测了5个易感基因在内侧前额叶皮质(MPFC)和海马区的表达。MPFC区NRG1mRNA表达显著降低，而海马区NRG1mRNA表达无明显变化。此外，在mPFC中还观察到COMT mRNA的表达显著增加。这些结果表明，围产期窒息可能导致PFC的紊乱，进而可能对特定基因的表达产生长期影响，如NRG1和COMT。

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.