garlic
Bioavailability of selenium from selenium-enriched garlic.

Ip C, Lisk DJ.

Department of Surgical Oncology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263.

We previously reported that garlic grown in a selenium-fertilized medium (selenium-enriched garlic) is superior to regular garlic in mammary cancer prevention in an animal model (Nutr Cancer 17, 279-286, 1992). The present study was designed to evaluate the nutritional bioavailability of selenium from this garlic with use of two liver selenoenzymes as biomarkers: glutathione peroxidase and type I 5'-deiodinase. Rats were fed a selenium-deficient diet (0.01 ppm Se) from weaning for four weeks to deplete both enzymes. They were then supplemented with nutritional levels of selenium (0.1-0.5 ppm) in the form of sodium selenite (positive control) or selenium-enriched garlic. Our results showed that selenium-enriched garlic was just as effective as selenite in restoring the activity of both selenoenzymes. This was demonstrated in a time course repletion experiment as well as in a dose-response experiment. Thus the selenium in selenium-enriched garlic has potent nutritional and anticancer efficacy. The type I 5'-deiodinase enzyme catalyzes the conversion of thyroxine (T4) to 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) and is responsible for most of the circulating T3. Because cancer chemoprevention by selenium usually requires pharmacological levels of selenium, we also examined the possible modulation of type I 5'-deiodinase by long-term feeding of selenium-enriched garlic at 3 ppm Se in the diet. The observation that a high intake of selenium-enriched garlic did not affect 5'-deiodinase activity suggests that its anticarcinogenic effect is unlikely to be mediated by an imbalance in the blood T4-to-T3 ratio.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8233978&dopt=Abstract garlic



garlic
A garlic extract protects from ultraviolet B (280-320 nm) radiation-induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity.

Reeve VE, Bosnic M, Rozinova E, Boehm-Wilcox C.

Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Lyophilized aged garlic extract has been incorporated at concentrations of 0.1%, 1% and 4% by weight into semipurified powdered diets and fed to hairless mice. Under moderate UVB exposure conditions resulting in 58% suppression of the systemic contact hypersensitivity response in control-fed mice, a dose-responsive protection was observed in the garlic-fed mice; contact hypersensitivity in the UVB-exposed mice fed 4% garlic extract was suppressed by only 19%. If the UVB exposure was replaced by topical application of one of a series of lotions containing increasing concentrations of cis-urocanic acid, a dose-responsive suppression of contact hypersensitivity was demonstrated in control-fed mice (urocanic acid at 25, 50, 100 and 200 micrograms per mouse resulting in 22-46% suppression). Mice fed a diet containing 1% aged garlic extract were partially protected from cis-urocanic acid-induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity, with greater protection from the lower concentrations of urocanic acid. Mice fed a diet containing 4% aged garlic extract were protected from all concentrations of urocanic acid. The results indicate that aged garlic extract contains ingredient(s) that protect from UVB-induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity and suggest that the mechanism of protection is by antagonism of the cis-urocanic acid mediation of this form of immunosuppression.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8310001&dopt=Abstract garlic



garlic
Dietary garlic suppresses DNA adducts caused by N-nitroso compounds.

Lin XY, Liu JZ, Milner JA.

Department of Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802.

The present studies examined the impact of a processed garlic powder on the in vivo occurrence of DNA adducts caused by N-nitroso compounds (NOC) in rats. Addition of 2% garlic powder to diets containing aminopyrine and sodium nitrite (each at 600 mg/kg) reduced the occurrence of both 7-N-methyldeoxyguanosine (7-N-mG) and 6-O-methyldeoxyguanosine (6-O-mG) adducts to rat liver DNA by approximately 55%; and over 80% when 4% garlic was provided. Dietary supplementation with garlic powder (2 and 4%) also reduced the occurrence of 7-N-mG and 6-O-mG adducts by approximately 40 and 60% respectively, in rats intubated with N-nitrosodimethylamine (150 mg/kg body wt). The quantity of 7-N-mG and 6-O-mG adducts in mammary tissue of rats given intravenous N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (50 mg/kg body wt) was reduced over 50% in rats fed 2% garlic compared to controls. The depression in the occurrence of these adducts was approximately 70% when dietary garlic was increased to 4%. These experiments suggest the reduction in DNA adducts caused by processed garlic powder likely reflects a depression in the formation of NOC from precursors and changes in the bioactivation and/or denitrosation of NOC.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8313528&dopt=Abstract garlic



garlic
Impact of various sources of garlic and their constituents on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene binding to mammary cell DNA.

Amagase H, Milner JA.

Department of Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802.

The present studies assessed the impact of various sources of garlic and their constituents (water- and ethanol-extracts and S-allylcysteine) on the in vivo binding of the carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) to rat mammary cell DNA. The provision of dietary raw garlic powder (2%) or its water-extract (1.5%) reduced DMBA-DNA binding by 33 and 46% respectively. Dietary supplementation with a commercially available deodorized garlic powder (powder A) at 2 or 4% depressed the occurrence of adducts by 50 and 78% respectively, while providing a commercially available high sulfur garlic preparation (powder B) at 2% reduced binding by 56%. A pair-feeding study revealed that the depression in carcinogen binding was independent of food intake or weight gain. Although 1% raw garlic powder did not significantly influence the occurrence of DMBA-DNA adducts, an equivalent as the water-extract (0.75%), the ethanol-extract (0.015%) or commercially available powders (A and B) reduced DMBA adducts in mammary tissue by 44, 25, 71 and 65% respectively. Dietary fortification with S-allylcysteine (SAC), a water-soluble constituent of processed garlic, caused a progressive decrease in the binding of DMBA to DNA. Studies with SAC suggest the primary effect of garlic and its constituents is on the bioactivation and binding of the carcinogen rather than DNA repair. These data reveal that several forms of garlic are effective, although variable, in altering carcinogen bioactivation and presumably chemically induced carcinogenesis.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8353846&dopt=Abstract garlic



garlic
Novel rod-shaped viruses isolated from garlic, Allium sativum, possessing a unique genome organization.

Sumi S, Tsuneyoshi T, Furutani H.

Institute for Biotechnology Research, Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Hiroshima, Japan.

Rod-shaped flexuous viruses were partially purified from garlic plants (Allium sativum) showing typical mosaic symptoms. The genome was shown to be composed of RNA with a poly(A) tail of an estimated size of 10 kb as shown by denaturing agarose gel electrophoresis. We constructed cDNA libraries and screened four independent clones, which were designated GV-A, GV-B, GV-C and GV-D, using Northern and Southern blot hybridization. Nucleotide sequence determination of the cDNAs, two of which correspond to nearly one-third of the virus genomic RNA, shows that all of these viruses possess an identical genomic structure and that also at least four proteins are encoded in the viral cDNA, their M(r)s being estimated to be 15K, 27K, 40K and 11K. The 15K open reading frame (ORF) encodes the core-like sequence of a zinc finger protein preceded by a cluster of basic amino acid residues. The 27K ORF probably encodes the viral coat protein (CP), based on both the existence of some conserved sequences observed in many other rod-shaped or flexuous virus CPs and an overall amino acid sequence similarity to potexvirus and carlavirus CPs. The 11K ORF shows significant amino acid sequence similarities to the corresponding 12K proteins of the potexviruses and carlaviruses. On the other hand, the 40K ORF product does not resemble any other plant virus gene products reported so far. The genomic organization in the 3' region of the garlic viruses resembles, but clearly differs from, that of carlaviruses. Phylogenetic analysis based upon the amino acid sequence of the viral capsid protein also indicates that the garlic viruses have a unique and distinct domain different from those of the potexvirus and carlavirus groups. The results suggest that the garlic viruses described here belong to an unclassified and new virus group closely related to the carlaviruses.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8376963&dopt=Abstract garlic