garlic
Construction of a garlic BAC library and chromosomal assignment of BAC clones using the FISH technique.

Lee HR, Eom EM, Lim YP, Bang JW, Lee DH.

Department of Biological Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750, South Korea. lee ewha.ac.kr

For molecular and cytogenetic studies, two partial bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries of the garlic cultivar Allium sativum L. 'Danyang' were constructed using high molecular weight (HMW) garlic DNA, the pBAC1-SACB1 vector, and the pIndigoBAC536 vector. The average insert size of the BAC library was about 90 kb. The sequence compositions of the BAC clones were characterized by Southern hybridization with garlic genomic DNA and a repetitive sequence clone of garlic. Two BAC clones with weak signals (thus implying mostly unique sequences), GBC2-5e and GBC2-4d, were selected for FISH analysis. FISH analysis localized the GBC2-5e (approximately 100 kb) BAC clone on the long arm of garlic chromosome 7. The other BAC clone, GBC2-4d (approximately 110 kb), gave rise to discrete FISH signals on a mid-size early metaphase chromosome. The FISH screening with BAC clones proved to be a useful resource for molecular cytogenetic studies of garlic, and will be useful for further mapping and sequencing studies of important genes of this plant.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12834070&dopt=Abstract garlic



garlic
Antimicrobial activity of crude juices of Allium ascalonicum, Allium cepa and Allium sativum.

Dankert J, Tromp TF, de Vries H, Klasen HJ.

Crude juices of garlic (Allium sativum), onion (Allium cepa) and shallots (Allium ascalonicum) were tested in an agar diffusion test for their growth inhibitory effect on five gram negative and three gram positive bacterial species and two yeast species. All test organisms were inhibited by garlic juice, whilst onion and shallot juice showed no effect upon gram negative bacteria. Garlic juice was investigated in more detail. Addition of complex-forming agents and organic matter to the crude juice reduced its activity on all test organisms. Volatile substances showed a strong inhibitory activity after exposure for 8 hours or longer at 23 degrees C or 37 degrees C. Minimal inhibition concentrations determined in a dilution test were found to be high for gram negative bacteria and low for both yeast species. The D-values of the different test organisms in undiluted garlic juice were calculated. P. aeruginosa had a very low D-value, whilst the bacteriostatic concentration was high. This indicates a large concentration exponent of crude garlic juice for this organism. The opposite was found for S. aureus. In view of the strong antibiotic properties and the complete absence of development of resistance further investigation upon the principles of the antimicrobial activity of juices from Allium species merits consideration.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=44616&dopt=Abstract garlic



garlic
Onion, garlic, and experimental atherosclerosis.

Sainani GS, Desai DB, Natu MN, Katrodia KM, Valame VP, Sainani PG.

Forty-two healthy male albino rabbits weighing around 1 Kg were divided into 4 groups. Group I (8)- fed on normal stock diet, Group II (8)- fed on stock diet plus cholesterol (0.5 gm in 5 ml of olive oil). Group III (15)- received stock diet plus cholesterol plus garlic (0.25 gm) juice. Group IV (11)- received stock diet plus cholesterol plus onion (2.5 gm) juice. The animals were closely observed and followed for 16 weeks. Approximately every 4 weeks, blood samples were collected for estimation of various parameters (S. cholesterol, S. triglycerides, S. lipoproteins, S. phospolipids, and fibrinolytic activity). At the end of experiment, animals were sacrificed and degree of aortic atherosclerosis was graded (grade 0 to 4) in different groups and compared. Experimental study revealed that both garlic and onion (garlic more than onion) had significant effect in inhibiting the rise in S. cholesterol, S. triglycerides, S. beta lipoproteins, and S. phospolipids and significant effect in enhancing the fibrinolytic activity. The beta: alpha ratio was altered favourably and the ratio was kept close to normal. As regards the degree of aortic atherosclerosis as seen on post mortem, it was significantly less in garlic and onion group when compared with pure cholesterol group.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=459102&dopt=Abstract garlic



garlic
Garlic (Allium sativum L.) modulates cytokine expression in lipopolysaccharide-activated human blood thereby inhibiting NF-kappaB activity.

Keiss HP, Dirsch VM, Hartung T, Haffner T, Trueman L, Auger J, Kahane R, Vollmar AM.

Department of Pharmacy, Center of Drug Research, University of Munich, D-81377 Munich, Germany.

Garlic is proposed to have immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. This paper shows that garlic powder extracts (GPE) and single garlic metabolites modulate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine levels in human whole blood. GPE-altered cytokine levels in human blood sample supernatants reduced nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB activity in human cells exposed to these samples. Pretreatment with GPE (100 mg/L) reduced LPS-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta from 15.7 +/- 5.1 to 6.2 +/- 1.2 micro g/L and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha from 8.8 +/- 2.4 to 3.9 +/- 0.8 micro g/L, respectively, whereas the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was unchanged. The garlic metabolite diallydisulfide (1-100 micro mol/L) also significantly reduced IL-1beta and TNF-alpha. Interestingly, exposure of human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK293) cells to GPE-treated blood sample supernatants (10 or 100 mg/L) reduced NF-kappaB activity compared with cells exposed to untreated blood supernatants as measured by a NF-kappaB-driven luciferase reporter gene assay. Blood samples treated with extract obtained from unfertilized garlic (100 mg/L) reduced NF-kappaB activity by 25%, whereas blood samples treated with sulfur-fertilized garlic extracts (100 mg/L) lowered NF-kappaB activity by 41%. In summary, garlic may indeed promote an anti-inflammatory environment by cytokine modulation in human blood that leads to an overall inhibition of NF-kappaB activity in the surrounding tissue.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12840173&dopt=Abstract garlic



garlic
Effect of garlic on normal blood cholesterol level.

Bhushan S, Sharma SP, Singh SP, Agrawal S, Indrayan A, Seth P.

The effect of raw garlic on normal blood cholesterol level in males of the age group of 18-35 years was studied. The subjects, who never ingested garlic before, were given 10 g of garlic daily with their diet for two months. Fasting blood samples were investigated in respect of cholesterol before and after two months of garlic intake. Initially the blood cholesterol level ranged between 160-250 mg% which decreased significantly in all the subjects of experimental group after two months of ingestion of garlic. The slight decrease or increase in the blood cholesterol level of control group was not significant. The raw garlic can be advocated for daily ingestion in order to lower one's blood cholesterol level even if it is within normal limits.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=521124&dopt=Abstract garlic