Protective Effect of Camel Urine and Milk against Alcohol Induced Liver Damage in Rats

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the protective effect of camel urine alone and camel milk mixed with camel urine against alcohol induced liver damage in rats. The study was conducted at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Khartoum. It was performed on fifty Wistar Albino rats of both sexes weighing 85-105 gm, and was continued for four weeks (28 days). On day (29) the rats were slaughtered. Liver damage was induced by oral administration of 10% Ethanol at 5g/kg body weight. The first experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of camel urine alone against ethanol induced liver damage. Twenty five rats were used, divided into 5 groups. Rats in group 1 served as control and received normal saline orally, rats in group 2 were given orally with ethanol 10%, and rats in group 3 received orally Silymarin (standard drug) (50 mg/kg body weight) and after 3 hours the same group received ethanol 10%. Group 4 rats received camel urine at 1ml/100gm body weight by an oral intubation and rats of group 5 were administered orally with camel urine at 1ml/100gm body weight and after 3 hours received ethanol 10%. The experiment continued for 28 days, and on day 29 the rats were slaughtered. The second experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of the mixture of camel milk and urine against ethanol induced liver damage. Twenty five rats were used and divided into 5 groups. The rats of groups 1, 2 and 3 represented control, ethanol and Silymarin respectively, by the same schedule as the first experiment. The rats in group 4 received a mixture of camel milk and urine (1:1) at the rate of 2ml/100gm body weight, and group Please purchase PDFcamp Printer on http://www.verypdf.com/ to remove this watermark. xi 5 were administered with the mixture of camel milk and urine by the same dose as in group 4 and then after 3 hours received ethanol 10% (5g/kg body weight). The experimental continued for 28 days. Oral administration of camel urine, three hours before alcohol (10% ethanol), to the rats in the first experiment reduced levels of aspartate aminotransferases (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), induced by alcohol intoxication, beside noticeable stability and decrease in serum metabolites (total proteins, albumin and billirubin) concentrations which increased in alcoholic intoxicated rats. These results are better than the results obtained in the reference drug (Silymarin) group. The results of the serum enzymes and metabolites were correlated with histopathological changes. On the other hand, administration of camel milk mixed with the camel urine to rats in group 5 of the second experiment which were treated with alcohol after three hours, resulted in significant reduction of the levels of liver serum enzymes (AST, ALT, and ALP) and in stabilization and reduction of concentration of the serum metabolites (total protein, albumin and billirubin) compared with Silymarin + ethanol group, even more strong than using the camel urine alone. These results were verified by the histopathological changes. In Conclusion, the camel urine alone can act as protective agent against liver damage, but the camel milk mixed with camel urine has high protective effects and that could be attributed to the antioxidant activity or, possibly, to the chelating effects of camel milk and urine on toxicants specially alcohol