A study reveals the secret of the ability of the Arab camels, “ships of the desert”, to withstand extreme thirst

Camels have an amazing ability to survive for weeks without a small sip of water, which made them gain great fame among Arabs, because of their endurance of the hot Arabian desert.

The camel, due to its unique ability, gained many nicknames, as it was called the “ship of the desert”, for the ancient Arabs used it as a means of transportation during their trade work along the Silk Line to the Arabian Peninsula.

The Arabs gave camels many nicknames associated with the methods of drinking water, such as “Al-Ghab”, a camel that drinks water every two days. The “quarter” is the camel that drinks water every 3 days. And “Al Dhahirah” is the camel that drinks water once every day. And “Al-Rafa” is a camel that drinks water at any time. And “Al-Qareed” is the camel that drinks a small amount of water, and the title “The Lame” is given to the camels that drink water once in the morning and once in the evening.

Camels have unique biological tricks

Camels have a unique set of biological tricks that they use to survive in times of drought and water scarcity, including their large and intricate nostrils that prevent water from evaporating from their bodies, as well as their modified blood that can withstand drought.

In addition, camels can swallow hundreds of liters of water within minutes when water is available, then slowly absorb it to avoid osmotic shock (caused by excess fluid in the body), and they can also control their body temperature, which fluctuates from 31 to 41 degrees Celsius (87). to 105 degrees Fahrenheit) to reduce sweating.

A person shares a sentence with an ability with a “big” difference.

According to the article published in the scientific journal “sciencealert”, under the title (a secret ingredient behind the camel’s ability not to drink for weeks), when the water level in humans drops, the kidneys change the position and work of the renal pyramids to conserve as much water as possible. The water is filtered into tubes in an area called the crust, where it flows into its interior. Ions of dissolved salt are pumped across the membranes to create an imbalance that forces some of the water back into the blood, and the rest carries waste away through the urine.

But camels can conserve water in their blood to a very large degree, as they can concentrate their urine at a high rate, which we as humans cannot access.
All beauty does a great job

A team of researchers from the University of “Bristol” carried out a large study to examine the genes in the kidneys of the Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius), and the team compared between the dehydrated camels and the camels that had recently drank water.

“We identified hundreds of genes and proteins that were significantly altered both in and within the kidney cortex in dehydrated animals compared to their uninfected peers,” said University of Bristol animal physiologist Fernando Alvira Irazoz.

According to the article, several genes that were altered in dehydrated camels are involved in the inhibition of cholesterol in the kidney cells.

Alvira Irazoz and colleagues measured the amount of cholesterol in the plasma membranes of the kidneys of dehydrated camels and compared it to healthy (control) samples. They found that dehydrated camels actually had less cholesterol in these renal cell membranes than did the wet ones.

The research noted that this modification to the gene coding contributed to the transfer of water ions across the membranes of kidney cells more in dehydrated camels.

Taken together, these findings support the team’s hunch that “the suppression of cholesterol caused by dehydration allows camels to cling to more water in the kidneys.”

Endocrinologist from the University of Bristol, Benjamin Gillard, said: ‘The reduced amount of cholesterol in the kidney cell membrane would facilitate the movement of solutes and water through different sections of the kidneys, a process required for efficient water reabsorption and the production of highly concentrated urine, thus avoiding water loss. “.

The researchers are now working on a similar analysis of the camel’s brain, and plan to look at the genetic response to severe drought in mammals that live in other arid regions, such as rodents called jerboas.