Effects of heat on camel platelet structure and function – a comparative study with humans

To the Editor

I read with interest the article by Al Ghumlas et al. [1] showing that camel platelets were significantly less sensitive to in vitro heating than human platelets. This is an important addition to an earlier study on thermotolerance of camel blood cells [2]. Nonetheless, the underlying mechanism and the factors affecting thermotolerance in camel platelets, and whether this phenomenon also occurs in vivo, remain to be studied. Particular attention should be given to the possible role of heat shock proteins in enabling these platelets to resist exposure to the high desert heat during summer. A statement in the article by Al Ghumas et al. [1], however, was mistakenly cited. In their discussion, they stated that “ … it is known that camel body temperature is maintained at 37°C when hydrated and increases by 6 to 7°C if dehydrated” and they quoted Al-Faraj and Al-Haidary [3] and Al-Haidary [4] as the relevant references. In fact, these latter authors proved exactly the opposite. Using an advanced biotelemetry system for continuously monitoring core body temperature of camels, these authors concluded that camels “ … maintained their temperature at near constant level (36.5°C ± 0.04)” [3], and those camels “ … were able to maintain normal body temperature during dehydration with little daily fluctuations in T_core” [4].