Investigation of anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of camel milk in animal models

Abstract

Opioids and non-opioids have long been used as analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic. Long-term use of these drugs may lead to severe toxicities. Therefore natural remedies are now being explored to avoid risk of adverse effects associated with the use of these conventional medicines. Bioactive components from milk of different species have been identified as nutraceuticals, but no experimental or clinical study is conducted so far to explore the analgesic and anti-inflammatory potential of camel milk. In this study we evaluated camel milk for its possible analgesic and antiinflammatory activity. The anti-inflammatory effects of camel milk was studied in rats using paw edema method (induced by acetic acid) while tail-flick method was used to evaluate its analgesic effect in mice. Significantly increased tail-flick latency was shown after camel milk (33ml/kg) treatment when compared with acetylsalicylic acid at all time intervals. Anti-inflammatory activity of camel milk was significant (p≤0.001) at 4th hour of treatment as shown by maximum percentage inhibition in edema volume (46.84%) in comparison to control. Results of our present study suggested possible use of camel milk as adjuvant therapy in treating various chronic pain and inflammatory ailments. Camel milk could further be investigated in future for recognition of biochemical constituents responsible for its antiinflammatory and pain relieving activities.