Effects of antipsychotics, haloperidol and olanzapine, on the expression of apoptosis-related genes in mouse mHippoE-2 cells and rat hippocampus

Abstract

Objective. Modified levels of pro- (caspase3, Bax) and anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) regulatory proteins have been detected in certain brain areas of schizophrenic patients indicating a possible dysregulation of apoptosis. In the present study, effects of antipsychotics, haloperidol (HAL) and olanzapine (OLA), on the gene expression of caspase3 (casp3), Bax and Bcl-2 were studied in vitro in mouse hippocampal mHippoE-2 cell line and in vivo in the hippocampus of MK-801 animal schizophrenia model with the aim to provide evidence that antipsychotics may affect the activity of apoptosis-related markers.

Keywords

• schizophrenia
• hippocampus
• haloperidol
• olanzapine
• apoptosis
• apoptosis-related gens