Gene expression profiles of nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in an animal model of schizophrenia: proposed candidate genes.

Introduction: It has been suggested that schizophrenia may be induced by “accidents” or injuries that occur during early brain development and result in a reduction of the neural connections in different regions. In this study, we evaluated differences in the expression of brain genes using a recognized experimental prototype of schizophrenia: the animal model of ventral hippocampal lesion in neonate rats (VHLN) compared to control animals.

Methods: Using microarray technology, we obtained gene expression profiles of three brain areas (nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus) of juvenile (45 days) and adult (90 days) Wistar male rats that underwent either VHLN or sham VHLN.