title: Camel milk and bee honey regulate profibrotic cytokine gene transcripts in liver cirrhosis induced by carbon tetrachloride.
abstract: The lack of studies regarding the mechanism of the protective effects of camel milk and bee honey against hepatotoxic compounds led us to perform this study. Thirty-six male rats were divided into two main groups. The first group (n = 9) comprised control non-cirrhotic rats. The rats of the second group (n = 27) were administered carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) by intraperitoneal injection to induce liver cirrhosis. The cirrhotic rats were then divided into three equal subgroups, each comprising nine animals, as follows: (i) cirrhotic rats, (ii) cirrhotic rats treated with camel milk, and (iii) cirrhotic rats treated with camel milk and bee honey. The present findings revealed that CCl4elevated the activities of liver enzymes, blood glucose levels, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in the serum and glycogen content in the liver. On the other hand, CCl4significantly decreased phosphorylase activity in the liver tissue and significantly increased carbohydrate intolerance and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). Moreover, CCl4induced a significant increase in oxidative stress, along with increased expression of the profibrotic cytokine genes TNF-α and TGF-β. However, camel milk either alone or in combination with bee honey ameliorated these toxic actions. The antioxidant properties of these protective agents and their effects of downregulating certain procirrhotic cytokine gene transcripts underlie this protection.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, Damanhûr, Al Buhayrah, Egypt.
authors.forename: Kadry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sadek
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Damanhour University, Damanhûr, Al Buhayrah, Egypt.
authors.forename: Doha
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beltagy
authors.affiliation: c Department of Milk and Meat Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, Damanhûr, Al Buhayrah, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ebeed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.affiliation: d Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of El Sadat City, Sadat City, Al Buhayrah, Egypt.
authors.forename: Reham
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abouelkhair
keywords: bee honey; camel milk; cirrhose hépatique; cytokines profibrosantes; expression génique; gene expression; lait de chameau; liver cirrhosis; miel d’abeille; oxidative stress; profibrotic cytokines; stress oxydatif