Influence of camel milk on the hepatitis C virus burden of infected patients

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection represents a world health problem and no protective vaccine or effective drug currently exists. For economic reasons, many patients use traditional medicines to control the infection. In Egypt, camel milk is one of the traditional medicines widely consumed by patients infected with HCV. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of camel milk in the treatment of patients infected with HCV. Whole camel milk from a local farm was administered to patients for 4 months (250 ml/day/patient). Patient sera were collected prior to and following camel milk drinking, and three markers were set-up for sera-evaluation. The three markers indicating the effect of camel milk on HCV infection were: Liver function assays [alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)]; a viral load assay; and anti-HCV antibodies profile and isotyping against synthetic HCV epitopes. Camel milk demonstrated the ability to improve general fatigue, health and liver function (ALT and AST levels); ALT was reduced in ~88% of patients and AST was reduced in all patients subsequent to drinking camel milk for four months. The majority of patients responded positively to camel milk treatment; RNA viral load decreased in 13 out of the 17 patients (76.47%) and one patient exhibited undetected viremia following camel milk treatment. The anti-HCV antibodies profile and isotyping were significantly decreased (P<0.05) in immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 following treatment in 70–76% of patients. However, the treatment was ineffective in 23.53% of patients who experienced no reduction in RNA viral load following treatment with camel milk. In conclusion, whole camel milk treatment demonstrated efficacy in vivo; the viral load in the majority of patient sera was reduced and the IgG isotype profile was converted to Th1 immunity.

Potential antioxidant bioactive peptides from camel milk proteins

“…Furthermore, camel milk is suggested to exert a number of therapeutic activities ( Hailu et al., 2016 , Mihic et al., 2016 ). Numerous studies suggest that camel milk has distinct therapeutic benefits, such as anti-diabetic ( Korish, 2014 , Korish et al., 2015 , Mirmiran et al., 2017 ), anti-toxic ( Al-Asmari et al., 2017 , Khan, 2017 ), anti-viral ( el Agamy et al., 1992 , El-Fakharany et al., 2017 , Lee et al., 2016 ), antibacterial ( Cardoso et al., 2013 , Rahimi and Kheirabadi, 2012 , Soliman et al., 2015 ), anti-rheumatoid arthritis ( Arab et al., 2017 ), anticancer ( Ayyash et al., 2017 , Chen et al., 2014 , Korashy et al., 2012 ), and wound healing ( Ebaid et al., 2015 , Ebaid et al., 2017 ) activities. In addition, camel milk has been used for centuries in the Middle East, Asian and North African cultures as a natural remedy for many common health problems ( Agrawal et al., 2011a , Agrawal et al., 2011b , Al-Ayadhi and Elamin, 2013 , Ehlayel et al., 2011a , Ehlayel et al., 2011b , Mohamad et al., 2009 , Mohamed et al., 2015 , Shori, 2015 ).…”

Simple Protocol for immunoglobulin G Purification from Camel “Camelus dromedarius” Serum

“…Camel milk and its ingredients have been claimed to have significant in vitro and in vivo activity against cancer, jaundice, hepatitis B and C, diabetes, dropsy, tuberculosis, spleen problems, anemia, piles, food allergies, high cholesterol in the blood and asthma (31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41). One of these unique ingredients is the camel heavy-chain antibodies which have advantages because of their low molecular weight, while their light chains are absent; they should bind their antigen by one single domain, the variable domain of the heavy chain, which is referred to as "VHH", a nanobody of only about 12 to 15 kDa molecular weight allowing its access to small spaces not accessible for conventional antibodies [42,43].…”

Comparative Analysis of Milk Fat Globular Membrane (MFGM) Proteome between Saudi Arabia Camelus dromedary Safra and Wadha Breeds

“…The sandwich ELISA was carried out using the previously described method by El-Fakharany et al (2017) with modification [1]. Briefly, high binding ELISA microplates were coated with 50 µL of coating solution in duplicate manner (coating buffer; 3.03 g of Na 2 CO 3 mixed with 6.0 g of NaHCO 3 to make 1 L, pH 9.6) and MFGM protein samples from Safra and Wadha were added at a concentration of 2.2 µg/mL.…”

“…Camel milk has been consumed for thousands of years because of its immense nutritional value and health benefits. Several studies have revealed that camel milk has a high concentration of immunoglobulins, serum albumin, lactoferrin, the hormone insulin, and other important ingredients [1][2][3]. Recently, camel milk has been utilized as medication for treating many diseases including gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes mellitus, food allergy, cancer, and hepatitis C and B [1,[4][5][6][7].…”

“…Moreover, camel milk has differential in vitro antimicrobial activities against many pathogens [6,7], based on its bioactive proteins and/or peptides [1,[8][9][10][11][12].…”