Alterations in Caspase-3 in Juvenile Rats Treated Neonatally with Domoic Acid

Abstract

The clinical presentation of schizophrenia involves a variety of symptoms, which in many cases include hallucinations and delusions. Experimentally revealed alterations in both pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) and latent inhibition (LI) are also apparent in individuals afflicted with this disorder. Many have speculated that altered synaptic connections are, in part, responsible for this subset of behavioral abnormalities. We have previously reported that neonatal chronic low-dose injections of domoic acid (DOM) produce adult rats with deficits in PPI and LI. The current study was conducted to determine whether this toxin-treatment would alter the degree of apoptosis occurring in the developing brain. Results revealed significant decreases in caspase-3 within the right prelimbic cortex (PrL) in both male and female DOM-treated rats suggesting that even modest alterations in glutamate (Glu) signaling during critical periods of central nervous system (CNS) maturation will modify ontogenetic processes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the juvenile rat.