Perinatal Oxygen Restriction Does Not Result in Reduced Rat Frontal Cortex Synaptophysin Protein Levels at Adulthood as Opposed to Postmortem Findings in Schizophrenia

Synaptophysin, a synaptic vesicle protein and a marker for synaptic density has been found to be reduced in postmortem prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients, consistent with evidence for synaptic deficits in schizophrenia. The contribution of both genetic and environmental factors to the etiology of schizophrenia is well established, and obstetric complications have been suggested as a non-genetic risk factor of schizophrenia. As there is only scarce evidence for a genetic linkage between synaptophysin's chromosomal locus (Xp11.22) and schizophrenia, we hypothesized that early neonatal exposure of rat pups to oxygen restriction would result in reduced frontal cortex synaptophysin protein levels at adulthood. We studied the effects of anoxia or hypoxia on 7-day-old rats frontal cortex synaptophysin protein levels assessed by Western blotting 4 and 7 weeks following the exposure. In hypoxia- or anoxia-exposed rats, synaptophysin protein levels were elevated both 4 and 7 weeks after the exposure. Two-way ANOVA followed by post hoc LSD analysis showed that the effect was predominantly at 4 weeks after exposure and that only anoxia-exposed rats differed significantly from control rats (p = 0.019). These results are in contrast to postmortem findings in schizophrenia and suggest that reduced synaptophysin protein levels in schizophrenia patients' postmortem brain do not result from perinatal oxygen deprivation.