Abstract
Perinatal cerebral hypoxia represents a major cause of obsteric complications and the resulting transient oxygen deficiency might belong among the early risk factors for schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to evaluate possible long-term behavioural changes induced by one hour of continuous bilateral common carotid artery occlusion in 12-day-old male rats.
Post-ischemic behavioural disturbances were evaluated in social (play) behaviour on postnatal day 22 (PND 22), open field test (PND 35 and 50) and prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex (PND 50). Transient ischemia in the neonatal rats did not significantly alter the social dyadic interactions evaluated in pre-weaning pups but resulted in enhanced locomotor activity in pubertal rats (PND 35) and impaired prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex in post-pubertal males (PND 50).
These behavioural alterations suggest that perinatal hypoxic-ischemic insults may represent a risk factor for later manifestation of specific features relevant to schizophrenia in predisposed individuals.