Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine - Department of Oral Biology

Background: Autism is a very distressing disorder for parents as it can attack unpredictably, apparently out of nowhere. It seriously affects the whole body, so, this work aimed to study the effect of autism on the rat submandibular salivary glands and to evaluate the possible therapeutic effect of camel milk and leptin hormone. What makes it devastating for parents is that autism can strike unexpectedly, seemingly out of nowhere. A healthy and neurologically normal infant can suddenly regress into autism between the ages of one and two. Materials & Methods:20 adult albino female rats were mated overnight, each of them received sodium valproate to induce autism in their offspring. Then adult male offspring were used in the present study. The rats were divided into six groups: the control group, represented the healthy untreated rats, the autistic group was left untreated, Camel milk/ control group in which each rat received camel milk as well as in the Camel milk/autistic group, the leptin/control group and the leptin/autistic group which received leptin. Autism was verified through self-grooming test, elevated plus maze test and detection of IL-6, IL-1Ý and TNF-Ü in blood samples. Sections of submandibular salivary glands were subjected to H&E and histochemical examination using Fast Green stain. Finally, the mean area of acini, breadth, length, area and number of mitotic figures were measured, and then the obtained data from the different groups were statistically compared

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