The synaptic-vesicle-specific proteins rab3a and synaptophysin are reduced in thalamus and related cortical brain regions in schizophrenic brains

Two synaptic-vesicle proteins, rab3a and synaptophysin, have been studied on post-mortem brain tissues of schizophrenics and healthy controls. We found significantly reduced levels of rab3a in thalamus (p < 0.001); for both proteins in gyrus cinguli and hippocampus (p < 0.0001); for rab3a in frontal and parietal cortex (p < 0.05); and no differences in temporal cortex or cerebellum in schizophrenics compared with controls. Reduced synaptic density may be a prominent feature of the molecular neuropathology of schizophrenia. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.