Camel milk improvement of antioxidant and lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic rabbits

Dietary intervention can improve lipid profile and therefore impede the progress of atherosclerosis. The primary aim of this study is to assess the possible role of camel milk in enhancing the antioxidant capacity in rats fed a high fat diet. Thirty rabbits were individually divided into three groups, the control, HFD and HFD with camel milk. The control group fed on 100 g/day of NOR diet rabbit chow (USA) for three months; whereas the HFD group will be fed rabbit diet supplemented with 1.0% cholesterol plus 1.0% olive oil for same period as the control group. Hyperlipidemia significantly reduced the degree of lipid peroxidation (increase in MDA), and a decrease in individual antioxidant. Owing to its high antioxidant composition, we hypothesized that camel milk could be effective in laboratory animal model subjected to high fat diet. In this regard, camel milk showed a hypolipidemic effects in rats. The exact mechanism behind these effects may be well-related to the antioxidant status of camel milk. The high fat diet supplemented rabbits showed elevated concentrations of TC (p < 0.001), TG (p < 0.001) and lower HDL-C (p < 0.001), compared to the control group. Dietary camel milk counteracted HFD-induced hyperlipidemia. The application of an efficient nutraceuticals reducing the risk of hyperlipidemia attracts the attention of researcher in recent years. Thus, the exact cause of these effects, in particular genomic studies on milk fat should be further investigated.   Key words: Hypolipidemic, antioxidant, atherosclerosis.