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The camel milk sector is still little explored and especially the effect of the camel breeding system on certain properties and chemical compositions of camel milk. This study aims to assess the potential impact of the transition in the camel breeding system on milk productivity and the physicochemical composition of camel milk. To achieve this objective, a preliminary survey was conducted involving several breeders actively practicing the two targeted breeding systems (extensive and semi-intensive) in Algeria. This survey revealed milk production levels of 2 L/d and 3.5 L/d for the extensive and semi-intensive systems, respectively. Physicochemical analyses of these two types of camel milk (from extensive and semi-intensive breeding) were carried out. Various parameters were measured, including pH, acidity, density, total solids, solids-not-fat, ash levels, lactose, calcium, vitamin C, total proteins, whey proteins, and caseins. The results of these analyses indicate that the transition from extensive breeding system to the semi-intensive system significantly impacts the physicochemical quality of camel milk. Specifically, camel milk from the semi-intensive breeding system becomes less dense, more acidic and less rich in total dry matter particularly in solids-not-fat, which includes lactose, vitamin C, and minerals and notably calcium. Furthermore, this milk has become richer in proteins both total proteins and whey proteins, and more notably in caseins.

Background: Camel calf’s diarrhea is considered the chief economic loss in the camelid population. There is currently no vaccine licensed to prevent colibacillosis in camel calves. The new era of bacterial antibiotic resistance explains the treatment failure and the high mortality and morbidity associated with the disease. Current protective treatments have thus far limited efficacy and need to be replaced. Due to their antimicrobial properties and safety, natural products are recently finding a capital role in infection management. Aims: The current study explores Escherichia coli F17 susceptibility as a clinical strain isolated from diarrheic camel calves to a wide panel of natural products. Methods: Agar diffusion method, integrity of cell membrane, hydrophobicity of bacterial surface, biofilm assays, and motility were used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Coffea, Retama raetam, Moringa oleifera, Juniperus phoenicea, Uritica dioica, Camellia sinensis, Lavandula angustifolia, and Cuminum cyminum extracts against isolated bacteria. Results: Interestingly, all eight tested extracts have the damaging ability of E. coli F17’s cell membrane and cause the nucleic acid release after 12 hours. Escherichia coli F17 strain has the surface of hydrophobicity which changed after contact with extracts of the plant. Moreover, the motility of the studied bacteria changed after exposure to all plant extracts. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that all extracts, exempt U. dioica, can remove up to 50% biofilm of E. coli biomass as compared with the control. Natural extracts can be used as potential antimicrobial agents to mitigate diarrhea in camel calves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effect of on-farm practices on milk production, chemical and microbiological quality and on Somatic Cell Count (SCC) as well as the evolution of milk quality along the camel dairy value chain in southern Tunisia. A survey of 12 periurban dairy camel farms showed that the use of machine milking is limited (16.7%). The milking hygiene practices need to be improved with only 25% of farmers practiced teat dipping and washed the material with hot water and detergents. In addition, 75% of farmers milked their animals in bedding area. Conservation and marketing conditions for raw camel milk were mediocre. Analysis of on-farm milk quality showed that use of machine milking was related to increased milk production but also caused an increase in the microbial load. Quality assessment at different stages of the production chain showed that the chemical composition of milk was conserved, whereas the physical and microbiological quality was altered. At production, the load in Mesophilic Total Aerobic Flores (MTAF) was low with 17.4 × 104 cfu/mL, compared to bulk and point of sale milk, which had a significantly higher load (21.2 × 105 cfu/mL and 61.2 × 105 cfu/mL, respectively). The acceptability threshold of Acidity, MTAF, Total Coliforms and S. aureus prevalence were exceeded in all samples purchased from points of sale. Therefore, improvements in milking hygiene, milk storage, and transport conditions are essential in order to guarantee the quality of camel's milk to meet the needs of the consumer. The use of machine milking for dromedary camels in Southern Tunisia is limited and most she camels are milked by hand with suckling of the calf. Milking routine affect significantly the bacterial load of camel milk. Sanitation problems and keeping the cold chain are the biggest challenge in the dairy camel sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gelatin (GEL) is extensively used in various fields, particularly in therapeutics and pharmaceuticals. In this study GEL was extracted from goat skin using hot temperature extraction process and compared with that of commercial GEL. The physico-chemical characterization and functional properties were investigated by using temperature denaturation (Td), water-holding and fat-binding capacities (WHC and FBC), colour measurement and UV-light spectrum. In vitro biocompatibility was studied for the first time and was evaluated by blood coagulation index (BCI) and haemolytictests for wound dressing applications. The results revealed thermal stability of goat GEL at Td 37°C. WHC and FBC capacities were determined as 2.5 and 1.2 g/ml, respectively. The hunter colour spaces a*, b* and L* were -0.27, -1.97 and 25.23respectively. UV-Vis absorption spectrum of the goat GEL showed a maximum absorption peak at 280 nm. The in vitro anticoagulant activities of extracting GEL were higher than 70% after incubation for one hour. After being in contact with red blood cells for 1 h, the haemolysis ratio increased from to 0.46 to 1.4 when the concentration of goat GEL increased from 1 to 50 mg/ml suggesting the safety of the tested samples. These results suggest that thromboresistivity and hemocompatibility of this biopolymer retained the biological activity of our samples for biomaterial applications. According to this, goat GEL successfully competes with, and significantly could be useful for substitution of bovine in wound healingapplications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4) is a new emerging viral disease of chickens worldwide. It causes inclusion body hepatitis and hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome. Little is known about its prevalence in the Middle East. Here we report the prevalence of FAdV-4 in five chicken farms in eastern Saudi Arabia. High mortality rates were reported from birds from those five farms at 15 weeks of age. Gross examination revealed typical hydropericardium syndrome and accumulation of jelly-like materials in the pericardial cavities. We isolated FAdV-4 by using embryonated chicken egg inoculation. The inoculated embryos showed dwarfing, deformities, hemorrhage, and death after 3-5 days of inoculations. Detection of FAdV-4 in the heart and liver tissues was achieved by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR using the primers targeted to the partial hexon gene. Further confirmation was done by restriction fragment length polymorphism and the digestion patterns of the isolated FAdV-4 DNAs were close to those of other known FAdV-4 strains. The average genome size of the virus was ~43 kb. Phylogenetic analysis of the partial hexon gene sequences confirmed that these strains were closely related to other Asian strains from Kuwait, India, and Pakistan reported to GenBank. To our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the isolation and molecular characterization of FAdV-4 in chickens in Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five groups of Maghrebi camels have been identified in southern Tunisia according to their tribal affiliation: the Ourdhaoui Médenine in Tawazins tribe, the Ourdhaoui Tataouine in Oudarna tribe, the Guiloufi in Beni Guilouf tribe from Kébili, the Gueoudi at Ouled Gharib tribe from Kébili and the Merzougui in the Marazigues tribe from Kébili. The identification of these groups was achieved by recording nine body measurements (length of the body, length of the neck, thoracic girth, abdominal circumference, height at the hump, height at the withers, width between shoulders, length of the anterior limb and the length of the tool) from a total of 304 female camels (age ⩾ 6 years). Positive correlation was observed between the height at the hump and height at the withers, the thoracic girth and the abdominal circumference, the length of the body and the length of the neck. However, the length of the tail showed a negative correlation with the abdominal circumference and the height at the withers. Gueoudi, Guiloufi and Merzougui camel groups had the higher body length and the higher abdominal circumference compared to Ourdhaoui Médenine group of camels. Accordingly, Guiloufi, Merzougui and Ourdhaoui Tataouine camel groups had the higher thoracic girth and the higher height at the withers in comparison with Ourdhaoui Médenine. Ourdhaoui Médenine and Ourdhaoui Tataouine camel groups had the higher tail length compared to Gueoudi, Guiloufi and Merzougui camel groups. The clustering of the five groups allowed describing three main classes of Maghrebi camel including the big, medium and small size Maghrebi camels. According to the coat color, six vernacular names were identified included Chagra, Chaâla, Safra, Hajla, Hamra and Zarga. The quality of the hair was on majority rough and thick, that way the female camel was named Nagga Chalfi. One small proportion was attributed for the females that had sleek and heavy hair which were named Nagga Khawar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of temperature (-20°C, + 4°C, room temperature) and storage time (7, 15, 107 and 173 days) of feces on progesterone concentration in camel (Camelus dromedarius). Plasma and feces were collected from 10 pregnant and one non-pregnant camels. Extraction of fecal metabolites of progesterone was performed with methanol and petroleum ether. The analytical validation was provided by internal quality control (IQC) and the success of the validation tests (sensitivity, precision, recovery and parallelism). In comparison to the value found in the day of collection, the mean concentration of progesterone in feces which was frozen or dried at room temperature showed no significant difference after 7 and 15 days. A significant increase was found for fecal samples stored at + 4°C. After 107 and 173 days, freezing is inadequate condition of storage because the fecal progestagen concentrations vary significantly. However, drying feces at ambient temperature maintained stable progestagen concentrations. Therefore, results indicated that drying feces is a reliable method, independent from an electric power source and the freezing equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the effects of oestrus on milk yield and composition in camel (Camelus dromedarius) reared in oasis intensive system in southern Tunisia, 8 healthy females Maghrebi camels (age: 10.6 ± 2.9 years, body weight: 505 ± 39 kg and day in milk: 275 ± 18 days) were equitably divided in two groups. Each female in group 1 received 5 ml of ReceptalÒ (20 μg Buserelin; GnRH analogue) to induce oestrus while dams in group 2 were not injected and served as control. Females were monitored during morning milking for the following 15 days, to record oestrus behaviour, oestradiol-17β levels, milk yield, estimated daily milk, lag-time, time of milking, titrable acidity and density of raw and 24 h conserved milk, somatic cell count (SCC) and milk's major components (dry matter, fat, protein and ashes). Our results suggest that oestrus did not affect (P>0.05) production and physicochemical parameters in milk and did not alter milk conserved in 4°C during 24 h. These data indicate that changes in physiological status of dairy camels during the breeding season do not require alternative measures to guarantee milk quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of parity on the proportion of fatty acids with potential health significance in camel milk fat. Milk samples were collected from four multiparous and four primiparous camels in intensive husbandry at mid-lactation stage. Fatty acid methyl esters were analysed by gas chromatography in conjunction with a flame ionisation detector. Parity had a significant effect on fat and total solids content (p<0.05); mutiparous camels produced milk with lower fat and total solids content. In contrast, protein and ash content were not affected by parity (p>0.05). Primipara camels produced milk richer (p<0.05) in odd and branched chain fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, C17:0, C15:0, omega-3 fatty acids, oleic acid, vaccenic acid and α-linolenic acid, while poorer (p<0.05) for total short-chain fatty acids, total medium-chain fatty acids, total saturated fatty acids, C6:0, C10:0, C14:0, c9-C16:0, C16:0 and iso-C16:0. In addition, the desaturation index for C16, which is an indicator of Δ9-desaturase activity, and the atherogenicity index were lower in primiparous camels (p<0.05). Parity had no effect on conjugated linoleic acid content (p>0.05). Overall, the milk fat of primiparous camels appears to have a relatively high nutritional value, as it contained higher levels of beneficial fatty acids and lower levels of saturated fatty acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Snakebite envenoming (SBE) remains a severely neglected public health issue, particularly affecting tropical and subtropical regions, with Africa experiencing an estimated 435,000 to 580,000 snakebites annually, leading to high morbidity and mortality rates, especially across Africa and Asia. Recognized as a Neglected Tropical Disease, SBE management is further complicated by the inadequate efficacy of current antivenom treatments. Of particular concern are cobras ( Naja sp.), whose neurotoxins can induce rapid fatal respiratory paralysis. In this study, we investigate the potential of nanobodies as a promising next-generation of immunotherapeutics against cobra venoms. Through a dual strategy of the characterization of venom toxic fractions from cobras captured for the first time in Algeria and Tunisia biotopes, coupled with in vitro assays to evaluate their interactions with acetylcholine receptors, and subsequent immunization of dromedaries to produce specific nanobodies, we identified two lethal fractions, F5 and F6, from each venom, and selected five nanobodies with significant binding and neutralizing of 3DL50 (0.74 mg/kg). The combination of these nanobodies demonstrated a synergistic effect, reaching 100% neutralizing efficacy of 2DL50 lethal venom fraction (0.88 mg/kg) doses in mice. Additionally, our findings highlighted the complex mechanism of cobra venom action through the lethal synergism among its major toxins.

Background: Diarrhea caused by Escherichia coli is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in young animals. Few treatment options are available, mainly antibiotic therapy increasingly limited by resistance to commonly used drugs., Objectives: The aim of this work was to develop immunotherapy based on the use of camel VHH antibody fragments, or nanobodies, to target pathogenic E. coli surface antigens., Material and Methods: We immunized a camel with a killed strain we had previously isolated from a diarrheic camel calf and identified as expressing the F17 fimbriae antigen., Results: The immunized animal developed an anti-E.coli immune response including heavy-chain antibodies. Lymphocytes from this animal were purified and RNA isolated to create a VHH library by phage display with a size of about 10 9 individual transformants. Panning on live E. coli cells resulted in the isolation of VHH fragments specific to the cell surface antigens., Conclusion: The identification of these antigens can lead to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools against diarrhea., (Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s); Published by Iranian Journal of Biotechnology.)