Abstract
Improper diet can affects the brain and can increase the risk for mental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases like autism. Dietary modification can sometime be helpful to children with autism. The present study examined the effects of a high lipid diet on orally administered ampicillin -induced neurotoxic rats and compared with propionic acid models of autism. Forty young male western albino rats were divided into four equal groups. The first group served as the control; the second group was given an oral neurotoxic dose of propionic (PA) (250 mg/kg body weight/day) for three days. The third group received an orogastric dose of ampicillin (50mg/kg for three weeks) with a standard diet. Groups 4 was given an orogastric dose of ampicillin and fed with high-lipid diets, for 10 weeks. The possible effects of ampicillin (Amp) in presence of high lipid diet on selected neurotransmitters (5HT, DA, NA, glutamate and glutamine) and a cytokine IL-6 were tested and compared with the neurotoxic effect of propionic acid (PA). The results show a significant improvement of the neurotoxic effect of ampicillin when rats were fed with high lipid diet.