Investigating the Effect of Capric Acid on Antibiotic-Induced Autism-Like Behavior in Rodents

Owing to the high prevalence of gastrointestinal dysfunction in patients, the gut-brain axis is considered to play a vital role in neurodevelopment diseases. Recent pieces of evidence have pointed to the usage of antibiotics at an early developmental stage to be a causative factor in autism due to its ability to induce critical changes in the gut microbiota. The purpose of the study is to determine the neuroprotective effect of capric acid (CA) on autism in antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis in rodents. In this study, the effect of CA was observed in penicillin V (31 mg/kg, p.o.) exposed animals by evaluating their autism-like behavioral and biochemical parameters. The establishment of gut dysbiosis was confirmed by 16 RNA sequencing, and behavioral tests were performed. Subsequently, oxidative stress, cytokine levels, and mitochondrial complex activities in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex were analyzed. It was observed that the administration of penicillin V during the perinatal period produced gut dysbiosis and long-lasting changes in social behavior with symptoms of anxiety and depression and impaired learning and memory. Treatment with penicillin V also produced oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Treatment with CA produced a positive effect on the alterations with maximum effects evident at 400 mg/kg, p.o. through amelioration of behavioral as well as biochemical changes. The current study concluded that CA could act as a likely candidate for the treatment and management of autism via modulation of gut dysbiosis-induced neurobehavioral parameters, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammatory markers.