Enhancement of wound healing by un-denatured camel whey proteins in protein malnourished mice

According to the who,malnutrition is estimated to contribute to more than one third of all children deaths. this study aimed to investigate the impact of a diet containing whey protein (wp) on wound healing in malnourished mice. diets comprised either 5 g/kg protein malnourished (mal) or 150 g/kg protein (control) for 3 weeks. wp-supplemented animals received the mal diet for 3 weeks,followed by a 1-week treatment with a wp supplemented diet. thereafter,full thickness skin wounds were punched below the shoulder blades of each mouse. results demonstrated that malmice showed a very sharp increment in their malondialdehyde (mda) level and a significant decrease in glutathione (gsh) level compared to the control during the first 24 h. in contrast,wpsupplemented mal-mice showed a significant decrease in mda level and displayed an improvement in gsh level compared to the mal-mice. mrna levels of igf-1 and ccl22 (wound healing macrophages [whm]) were significantly down-regulated in mal-mice,while regulatory macrophage marker (rm) ccl-1 and the classically activated macrophages (cam) marker,cclx10,were higher than the control. wp was found to significantly restore the phagocytic activity in mal mice closer to that of the control mice. histological investigation of the skin revealed that epidermal cell proliferation and migration,and dermal reorganization was gradually improved in wp animals. thus,the time required for wound healing was shorter in mal-mice supplemented with a wp diet than in mal-mice. data of this study may recommend camel wp as a food additive for enhancing wound healing post-surgical operations. copyright 2016 zoological society of pakistan.