Autism is the category used within the newest edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of
neurodevelopmental disorders.
Autism is a spectrum of disorder where a variety of behavioural patterns observed in autistic patients, such as stereotypes and repetitive behavior, hyperexcitability, depression-like symptoms, and memory and
cognitive dysfunctions. Neuropathological hallmarks that associated with
autism are
mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress,
neuroinflammation, Neuro-excitation, abnormal synapse formation, overexpression of glial cells in specific brain regions like cerebellum, cerebral cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. ICV injection of
propionic acid (PPA) (4 μl/0.26 M) mimics autistic-like behavioral and biochemical alterations in rats. Literature findings reveal that there is a link between
autism neuronal mitochondrial coenzyme-Q10 (
CoQ10) and ETC-complexes dysfunctions are the keys pathogenic events for
autism. Therefore, in the current study, we explore the neuroprotective interventions of
Solanesol (SNL) 40 and 60 mg/kg alone and in combination with standard drugs
Aripiprazole (ARP) 5 mg/kg,
Citalopram (
CTP) 10 mg/kg,
Memantine (MEM) 5 mg/kg and
Donepezil (DNP) 3 mg/kg to overcome behavioral and biochemical alterations in PPA induced experimental model of
Autism. Chronic treatment with SNL 60 mg/kg in combination with standard
drug shows a marked improvement in locomotion, muscle coordination, long-term memory and the decrease in depressive behavior. While, chronic treatment of SNL alone and in combination with standard
drug aripiprazole,
citalopram,
donepezil, and
memantine shows the Neuroprotective potential by enhancing the cognitive deficits, biochemical alterations along with reducing the level of inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress.