Effect of camel milk on alloxan-induced diabetic rats

ABSTRACT

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease which affects large number of population all over the world. Such disease is associated with many complications which may leads finally to patient's mortality. Camel milk supplementation reduces the insulin requirement in Type I diabetic patients. So this study was planned to evaluate the effect of camel milk as hypoglycemic agent. Thirty male adult albino rats were used to investigate the effect of camel milk [CM] treating diabetic rats. Rats were divided into three equal groups, control, diabetic non treated and diabetic CM treated groups. After thirty days of treatment all rats of each group were sacrificed. The body weight of each rat was determined at the beginning and the end of each period. Blood glucose, serum insulin, lipid and protein profiles, liver and kidney functions, blood picture and liver glycogen were determined for each rat at the end of each period. Pancreatic samples were obtained and processed for microscopic and quantitative evaluation after staining the prepared sections with both Heamatoxylin and eosin as well as special stain for demonstration of the different pancreatic cells in the Islet of Langerhans. The obtained results showed that the induced diabetes was diagnosed by laboratory assessment to body weight loss, hyperglycemia, and hypoinsulinemia, significant increase in liver and kidney functions, lipid and protein profiles and decreased liver glycogen content. While, CM treatment led to a significant improvement in all these parameter except liver function. Microscopically there was definite vaculation, degeneration, karyolysis and pyknosis of beta pancreatic cells in diabetic group while the other pancreatic cells were not affected [alpha and delta cells]. The use of CM treatment of this study greatly improves such cellular changes. It was recommended that the use of the CM as a hypoglycemic agent may be of good results besides repeating such study with the use of variable doses may be helpful in better evaluation for the required doses