Moringa oleifera improves liver and kidney functions in Valproic Acid autistic-like rat model

Abstract

Autism is a neurological disease that affects social reciprocity and communication throughout life. Autism has been on the rise at an alarming rate over the last three decades, while the frequency appears to vary by country. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of Moringa oleifera leaves on sodium valproate (VPA) induced autistic-like rat model on the liver and kidney function and histopathology changes in rats compared with the synthetic drug risperidone. 40 pregnant females rats, 5 of them were used as control and the other 35 received a single oral dose of 800 mg/kg valproic acid (VPA) on the 11 th day of gestation then their offspring after weaning were randomly distributed into equal groups (n=8) and treated for 25 days as group 1: (Cont-) offspring of control mothers, (Cont+) VPA injection served as control positive, group 3: VPA+ moringa(400/mg/kg b. wt, p.o), group 4: VPA+ RIS (1 mg/kg b. wt, p.o), and group 5: VPA+ moringa + RIS. The rats were sacrificed at the end of the experiment and serum was used for the estimation of serum aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), urea, and creatinine in addition to the histopathological study of the liver and brain. The results showed improvement in the weight, liver, and kidney function by moringa and/or risperidone treatment in comparison with VPA treated group. Therefore, it may be concluded that Moringa oleifera extract had a protective effect due to its impact on liver and kidney function.