Abstract
Camel milk is different from other ruminant milk; having low cholesterol; low sugar; high minerals especially Zinc; high vitamin C; low protein and large concentrations of insulin. In Saudi Arabia, camel milk is traditionally used for many medical approaches. The study was designed to investigate the antihyperglycemic effect of camel milk on streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced in adult male albino rats of the Wistar strain, weighing 180-200 g, by administration of streptozotocin (40 mg/kg of body weight) intraperitoneally. Diabetic rats showed increase of plasma glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1)c) and a decrease of plasma insulin and haemoglobin (Hb). Activities of gluconeogenic enzymes such as glucose 6-phosphatase, fructose 1, 6-bisphosphatase increased and glucokinase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase decreased in the liver along with glycogen. Oral administration of camel milk 250 ml for 45 days prevented the above changes and improved towards normalcy. These results indicate that camel milk possesses antihyperglycemic effect on long-term treatment and its effect was comparable with glibenclamide.