Yasmeen Badr Mohamed ; Zoba Hassan Ali And Iman M. Aboushady,

ABSTRACT
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 Leptin Hormone.

Materials & Methods: 15 Adult Albino Female Rats Were Mated Overnight, 10 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 Three Groups: The Control Group, Represented The Healthy Untreated Rats, The Autistic Group Was Left Untreated 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-1? And TNF-� 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 And Number Of Mitotic Figures Were Measured, And Then The Obtained Data From The Different Groups Were Statistically Compared.

Results: The Control Group Revealed Normal Histology Of The Submandibular Salivary Gland, In The Autistic Group; The Acini Showed Numerous Intracytoplasmic Vacuolizations And Reduced Cytoplasmic Basophilia, The Granular Convoluted Tubules Revealed Decreased Eosinophilic Granular Content, Some Excretory Ducts Retained Secretion, Dilated Blood Vessels And Increased Fibrous Content Was Observed In The C.T. Septa. In The Leptin/autistic Group; Rare Acinar Vacuolizations And Markedly Increased Cytoplasmic Basophilia Were Noticed, A Noticeable Increase In The Number Of Mitotic Figures, The Granular Convoluted Tubules Revealed An Increased Granular Acidophilic Content. The Duct System Appeared With Normal Lining When Compared With Those Of The Autistic Group. Regarding The Histochemical Results, The Submandibular Gland Of The Control Group Showed Moderate Reaction To The Fast Green Stain Among The Acinar And Ductal Cells, The Autistic Group Revealed A Weak Reaction To The Fast Green Stain While In The Leptin/autistic Group; A Markedly Enhanced Reaction Occurred When Compared To Those Of The Autistic Group. The Mean Area Of Acini And Number Of Mitotic Figures In The Autistic Rats Were Reduced Compared To The Control Ones, While In The Leptin/autistic Group; They Were Increased When Compared To The Autistic One.

Conclusions: Thus, It Could Be Concluded That Administration Of Leptin To Autistic Rats Resulted In An Obvious Improvement In The Autistic Behavior Of Autistic Rats And The Histological Features Of The Submandibular Salivary Glands.