Hepatocurative Potentials of Camel (Camelus dromedarius) Urine and Milk on Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Hepatotoxicity in Albino Rats

Abstract

Damage to the liver cells caused by diseases such as hepatitis and cirrhosis can lead to dysfunction of the liver, which can later result in hepatic or liver failure. The present study was carried out to investigate the hepatocurative effects of camel urine and milk on carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄₎ induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats. Three different treatments (camel urine, camel milk and a 1:1 mixture of camel milk and urine) were administered to three different CCl₄-induced hepatotoxic rats (Groups A,B and C) and also to three different subgroups (D,E and F) of normal rats for two weeks. A positive control (Group G) was neither induced nor treated while negative control group (H) received no treatment after CCl₄-hepatotoxicity induction. Serum Alanine Amino Transferase (ALT), Aspartate Amino Transferase (AST) and Albumin (ALB) and histopathological findings all confirmed liver steatosis forty eight hours after CCl₄ hepatotoxicity induction on randomly selected rats. A significant weight gain was recorded for rats that received camel milk and urine mixture in the CCl₄ induced hepatotoxic group (P<0.05).A significant decrease in serum AST was observed in all test groups (P<0.05). Groups that received 1:1 urine and milk mixture showed a significant decrease at p<0.05 in serum ALT, AST and ALB than when treatments were administered singly. Camel urine resulted in periportal inflammation; camel milk resulted in vascular congestion while the 1:1 mixture of the two eliminated these side effects. In rats that received no treatment after hepatotoxicity induction, the condition of the liver deteriorated from liver steatosis to fibrosis and onset of cirrhosis. All these indicated that camel urine, camel milk and to a greater extent a mixture of the two, may have hepatocurative effects on CCl₄ induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats.

Keywords: Camel, Liver, Toxicity, Safety, Alternative medicine, hepatocurative.