Camel Milk as a Potential Therapy as an Antioxidant in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Abstract

Extensive studies have demonstrated that oxidative stress plays a vital role in the pathology of several neurological diseases, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD); those studies proposed that GSH and antioxidant enzymes have a pathophysiological role in autism. Furthermore, camel milk has emerged to have potential therapeutic effects in autism. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of camel milk consumption on oxidative stress biomarkers in autistic children, by measuring the plasma levels of glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and myeloperoxidase before and 2 weeks after camel milk consumption, using the ELISA technique. All measured parameters exhibited significant increase after camel milk consumption (P < 0.5). These findings suggest that camel milk could play an important role in decreasing oxidative stress by alteration of antioxidant enzymes and nonenzymatic antioxidant molecules levels, as well as the improvement of autistic behaviour as demonstrated by the improved Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS).

Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review About Nutritional Interventions

“…After the exclusion of the articles, 39 texts were read in full, and the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, resulting in the analysis of 18 articles for the present study ( Figure 1). Of the 18 articles included, 16 were randomized controlled trials (RCT), 9,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] and only five of them did not use the double-blind model. 19,21,24,25,29 The total number of participants in the interventions was 639, the smallest analyzed was of 12 children 26 and the largest was of 76.…”

“…Chan et al 19 , in 2012, proposed a differentiated oriental diet, subjecting the intervention group to a reduction in the consumption of "hot" spices, condiments, meat and other specific foods, with significant improvement in several behavioral symptoms typical of ASD. 19 In 2013, 15 Al-Ayadhi et al implemented an intervention in which cow's milk was replaced by camel's milk, and they reported significant improvement in communication and cognition in the two groups supplemented with camel milk, to the detriment of the cow's milk group. 15 It is worth noting that the different diets used foods typical of the region in question, which is a limiting factor both with regard to cost and dietary habits, when considering replicating this type of behavior in other countries, such as Brazil.…”

Camel Milk Beneficial Effects on Treating Gentamicin Induced Alterations in Rats

“…These cytoplasmic enzymes released in the circulation were suggested to be acting on the signal transduction pathways leading to membrane cellular permeability, according to previous reports [ 26 – 28 ]. GM toxicity enhances oxidative stress and the so formed reactive oxygen species (ROS) that exhaust the countering antioxidant enzymes and biomolecules [ 27 – 30 ], referring to further impaired pathway processes [ 31 ]. The significant increase in the LDH of GM injected rats compared to controls is also in agreement with previously published findings [ 3 , 13 ].…”

Compositional and Therapeutic Properties of Camel Milk: A Review

“…It has claimed that camel's milk could be used as a cure for autism (Adams, 2013;Al-Ayadhi and Elamin, 2013;Zibaee, 2015). In a previous study published in 2005, which examined the effect of replacing cow's milk with camel's milk in children and adults with autism.…”

“…Camel's milk which was consumed by a 4 years old girl for 40 days, a 15 years old child of for 30 days and some adults at the age of 21 years for two weeks resulted in positive results about the symptoms of autism (Shabo et al, 2005;Yagil, 2013). Another study found that parents reported improvement in many autism symptoms in their children after ingestion of camel's milk, such as getting better sleep, improving their perception of the place, improving visual and language communication, and improving their digestive symptoms (Wernery et al, 2012;Al-Ayadhi and Elamin, 2013). In a study of 60 cases of autism at the age of 2-12 years, the effect of eating 500 ml of bovine's milk twice daily was compared with the same amount of camel's milk for two weeks (Zibaee, 2015).…”