Abstract
Background: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have a wide range of applications in various fields. This study provides an understanding of the modulatory effects of AuNPs on an antioxidant system in male Wistar diabetic rats with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Normal littermates fed by control mothers were injected with citrate buffer alone and served as normal, untreated controls controlin this study. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was induced by administering a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (1.00 mg/kg) to the pups of (ND) diabetic group, which had been fasted overnight. Autistic pups from mothers that had received a single intraperitoneal injection of 600 mg/kg sodium valproate on day 12.5 after conception were randomly divided into 2 groups (n 2 7/group) as follow; administering single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) ( (100 mg/kg) to the overnight fasted autistic pups of (AD) autistic diabetic group. The treatment was started on the 5th day after STZ injection with the same dose as in group II and it was considered as 1st day of treatment with gold nanoparticles for 7 days to each rat of (group IV) treated autistic diabetic group(TAD) at a dosage of 2.5 mg/kg. b. wt. Results: At this dose of administration AuNPs, the activities of hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and catalase were greater in group TAD compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Oxidised glutathione levels were lower (P > 0.05) in the liver of autistic diabetic AuNPs supplemented rats, whereas reduced glutathione was markedly higher than in control rats, especially after administration of AuNPs. Moreover, the kidney functions in addition to the fat profile scoring supported the protective potential of that dose of AuNPs. The beta cells revealed euchromatic nuclei with no evidence of separation of nuclear membrane. Conclusions: Our results showed that AuNPs improved many of the oxidative stress parameters (SOD, GPx and, CAT), plasma antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and lipid profile relative to the other parameters. In addition to the apparent reversibility of the pancreatic B cell in group IV which may reflect the regenerative capacity of AuNPs. Copyright (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel