Antiapoptotic and anticoagulant effects of camel milk and camel urine in methotrexate-induced hepatotoxicity

Figures & data

Table 1. The liver functions, the hemostatic parameters and the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in the control, methotrexate (MTX), methotrexate-camel milk treated (MTX-M), and methotrexate-camel urine-treated (MTX-U) groups after 8 weeks of the study, (n = 10 in each group).

	Control	MTX	MTX-M	MTX-U
AST (IU/L)	91.22 ± 17.97	172.60 ± 48.63*	126.20 ± 39.66†	108.40 ± 17.23*†‡
ALT (IU/L)	32.78 ± 10.97	49.89 ± 11.81*	41.00 ± 5.178*	33.33 ± 8.41*†
ALP (IU/L)	82.67 ± 8.69	177.80 ± 46.24*	132.70 ± 19.6*†	125.30 ± 17.60*†
Bilirubin (mg/dl)	1.45 ± 0.23	2.06 ± 0.49*	2.0 ± 0.58	1.94 ± 0.43
Total protein (g/L)	63.89 ± 1.64	58.36 ± 1.87*	62.13 ± 2.41†	60.00 ± 1.85*†
Albumin (g/L)	11.83 ± 0.81	10.95 ± 0.49*	13.10 ± 0.56*†	12.94 ± 0.46*†
PT (s)	18.31 ± 1.26	21.54 ± 2.41*	21.12 ± 1.96*	22.04 ± 1.85*
PTT (s)	27.39 ± 1.2	31.87 ± 3.37*	38.78 ± 3.07*†	35.51 ± 3.75*
AT (%)	128.00 ± 7.02	114.20 ± 10.12	104.20 ± 6.48*	112.10 ± 20.00*
Fibrinogen (mg/dl)	258.30 ± 36.82	193.90 ± 36.46*	219.70 ± 46.66	190.40 ± 25.34*
TAC (mM)	12.30 ± 0.68	9.56 ± 1.11*	13.55 ± 0.47 *†	14.16 ± 0.60*†
FBG (mg/dl)	92.13 ± 5.67	108.30 ± 8.50*	85.50 ± 12.1	89.60 ± 13.67

AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ALP, Alkaline phosphatase; PT, prothrombin time; PTT, partial thromboplastin time; AT, antithrombin; TAC, total antioxidant capacity; FBG, fasting blood glucose.

Values are presented as mean ± SD; statistical difference between all groups was tested by one way ANOVA; when it was significant, a post hoc Tukey’s test was carried out to compare between groups. *p < .05 vs. control group, ^†p < .05 vs. Methotrexate (MTX) group.

Figure 1. Liver and serum cytokeratin-18 (CK-18) levels in methotrexate toxicity and the effect of camel milk and camel urine treatments. Control healthy (C), methotrexate (MTX), methotrexate-camel milk-treated (MTX-M), and methotrexate-camel urine-treated (MTX-U) groups. ****p < .0001, **p < .01, *p < .05.

Figure 2. The levels of DNA fragmentation factor 40 kDa subunit beta (DFF-40) in the liver tissue in the methotrexate toxicity and the effect of camel milk and camel urine treatments. Control healthy (C), methotrexate (MTX), methotrexate-camel milk treated (MTX-M), and methotrexate-camel urine-treated (MTX-U) groups. ****p < .0001, ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05.

Table 2. The changes in body weight (B.Wt) and the liver/body weight (L/Wt.) ratio in the control, methotrexate (MTX), methotrexate-camel milk (MTX-M), and methotrexate-camel urine (MTX-U) groups of animals in the study.

	Control	MTX	MTX-M	MTX-U
Initial B.Wt (g)	261.60 ± 21.67	262.20 ± 24.34	267.60 ± 13.91	267.80 ± 8.64
Final B.Wt (g)	446.90 ± 34.32	347.10 ± 20.06*	413.30 ± 27.40*†	393.90 ± 26.38*
Liver weight (g)	12.06 ± 1.46	10.79 ± 0.96*	12.57 ± 1.12†	12.46 ± 1.14†
Liver/B.Wt (%)	2.69 ± 0.29	3.12 ± 0.29*	3.04 ± 0.18*	2.99 ± 0.19*

Values are presented as mean ± SD; statistical difference between all groups was tested by ANOVA; when it was significant, a post hoc Tukey’s test was carried out to compare between groups. *p < .05 vs. control group, †p < .05 vs Methotrexate (MTX) group.

Table 3. Pearson’s correlation studies between the liver function parameters (AST, ALT, albumin, and fibrinogen), the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and the apoptotic markers (CK-18 and DFF-40) in the studied groups.

	AST	ALT	Albumin	Fibrinogen	TAC	CK-18	DFF-40
AST		r = 0.60	r = −0.39	r = −0.038	r = −0.45	r = 0.35	r = 0.56
		p = .005*	p = .02*	p = .02*	p = .006	p = .03*	p = .004*
TAC	r = −0.45	r = −0.35	r = 0.73	r = −0.008		r = 0.38	r = −0.39
	p = .006*	p = .039*	p = .007*	p = .96		p = .02*	p = .02*

AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; TAC, total antioxidant capacity; CK-18, cytokeratin-18; DFF-40, DNA fragmentation factor-40. (r = −1 to 1), the correlation is significant * at p < .05.