Does caffeine therapy improve cognitive impairments in valproic acid rat model of autism?

Abstract

Autism spectrum condition is a neurodevelopmental disorder. Pregnant rats’ exposure to valproic Acid (VPA) causes cognitive deficits in pups similar to those observed in humans with autism-like behaviors. Caffeine therapy is an important pharmacological research line for studying the involvement of adenosine receptors in cognitive functions. Here, we investigate the effects of caffeine on cognitive, anxiety-like behaviors and social functions of offspring’s rats following congenital VPA administration using by Morris water maze (MWM), Elevated plus maze, and three chamber social assay, respectively.

On postnatal day 21, male rats received caffeine orally in drinking water at a dose of 1 mg/mL for 30 days. The pups were divided into four groups as follows: (1) vehicle (treated by saline), (2) VPA group, (3) Caffeine group and (4) VPA + Caffeine. We observed remarkable learning and memory impairments, increased anxiety like behaviors and social interaction deficits which were observed in autism rats can improve after caffeine therapy.

Keywords:

• Autism
• Valproic Acid (VPA)
• Caffeine
• Morris water maze
• plus maze
• social interactions

Acknowledgements

This work was supported from Kerman Neuroscience Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran [No: KNRC-96–23].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.