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Two experiments were conduted to evaluate the role of camel milk in preventing the detrimental effect of lead on rat. In the first, 6 groups of adult male rats were administered daily for 60 days the following : group 1 saline; group 2 camel milk; group 3 cow milk, group 4 lead acetate; group 5 camel milk plus lead and group 6 cow milk plus lead. In the second, pregnant female rats were divided and treated following the first experiment. The female were allowed to deliver pups, the treatment continued until weaning of the pups then, the male pups were left without treatment until puberty. Lead caused significant reduction in the body and reproductive organ weights; plasma and testicular testosterone, testicular zinc; antioxidant enzymes, luteinising and follicle stimulating hormones and semen characteristics, while it caused significant increase in malondialdehyde; testicular cholesterol and testicular and plasma lead. Camel milk treatment improved the estimated parameters in adult male rat. However, it could not alleviate these parameters in male rats born for mothers exposed to lead during pregnancy and lactation periods. Camel milk treatment improved the evaluated parameters in adult male rats exposed to lead intoxication albeit not all were identical to the control levels, however, it could not improve these parameters in adult male rats born for mothers exposed to lead during pregnancy and lactation.

The present study aimed to assess the population structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates from Egypt. A total of 230 MTB isolates were analysed using spoligotyping, large sequence polymorphism (LSPs), mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). The majority of isolates (93.0%) belonged to lineage 4, including 44.3, 13.4 and 10.8% of the ill-defined T clade, LAM and Haarlem families, respectively, and lineage 3 was identified in 7.0% of the isolates. MIRU-VNTRs typing allowed efficient discrimination of the spoligotype-defined clusters, including spoligo-international types (SIT) 53, 34, and 4, into 56 patterns, including 13 clusters and 43 unique patterns. A new SNP at position 311614 was identified in all six isolates to form the biggest MIRU-VNTR cluster, which suggested a recent clonal expansion. This SNP could possibly be used as a genetic marker for robust discriminations of Egyptian MTB isolates belonging to SIT53. The combination of spoligotyping, 12 MIRU-VNTRs loci and MLST provided insight into the genetic diversity and transmission dynamics of the Egyptian MTB genotypes and could be a key to implementation of effective control measures by public health authorities.

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