Open Access

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

  • Authors:
    • Esmail Mohamad El‑Fakharany
    • Nawal Abd El‑Baky
    • Mustafa Hassan Linjawi
    • Abdullah Abdelhafiz Aljaddawi
    • Tahya Hussein Saleem
    • Ahmed Yassine Nassar
    • Ashraf Osman
    • Elrashdy Moustafa Redwan
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: February 22, 2017     https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2017.4159
  • Pages: 1313-1320
  • Copyright: © El‑Fakharany et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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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.
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April-2017
Volume 13 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1792-0981
Online ISSN:1792-1015

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Spandidos Publications style
El‑Fakharany EM, El‑Baky NA, Linjawi MH, Aljaddawi AA, Saleem TH, Nassar AY, Osman A and Redwan EM: Influence of camel milk on the hepatitis C virus burden of infected patients. Exp Ther Med 13: 1313-1320, 2017
APA
El‑Fakharany, E.M., El‑Baky, N.A., Linjawi, M.H., Aljaddawi, A.A., Saleem, T.H., Nassar, A.Y. ... Redwan, E.M. (2017). Influence of camel milk on the hepatitis C virus burden of infected patients. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 13, 1313-1320. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2017.4159
MLA
El‑Fakharany, E. M., El‑Baky, N. A., Linjawi, M. H., Aljaddawi, A. A., Saleem, T. H., Nassar, A. Y., Osman, A., Redwan, E. M."Influence of camel milk on the hepatitis C virus burden of infected patients". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 13.4 (2017): 1313-1320.
Chicago
El‑Fakharany, E. M., El‑Baky, N. A., Linjawi, M. H., Aljaddawi, A. A., Saleem, T. H., Nassar, A. Y., Osman, A., Redwan, E. M."Influence of camel milk on the hepatitis C virus burden of infected patients". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 13, no. 4 (2017): 1313-1320. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2017.4159