Effect of Organosulfur Compounds from Different Garlic Preparations on Hyperlipidemia: An in-silico Approach

Abstract

Garlic is one of the most well-known medicinal plants in terms of hypolipidemic activities. Its organosulfur compounds (OSCs) are probably one of the major groups of potentially active compounds for treating hyperlipidemia. However, the hypolipidemic activities of many garlic OCSs have not been investigated. This study was conducted to predict the potential of garlic OSCs to interact with hyperlipidemia targets and to evaluate their pharmacokinetic properties. 25 OSCs were selected to interact with four major targets of hyperlipidemia named pancreatic lipase, HMG-CoA reductase, PPAR-α, and NPC1L1 using the AutoDock Vina program. The pharmacokinetic properties of OSCs were also evaluated by the SwissADME website. The best binding affinity values were obtained for γ-glutamyl-S-alk(en)ylcysteines. Other OSCs, such as S-alk(en)ylcysteine sulfoxides and ajoenes, presented a moderate to high affinity for the studied targets. However, in-silico evaluation of pharmacokinetic properties showed that γ-glutamyl-S-alk(en)ylcysteines have low absorption. The results displayed that γ-glutamyl-S-alk(en)ylcysteines can potentially be considered antihyperlipidemic agents mainly influencing the intestinal lumen. Therefore, it seems that fresh whole garlic, thermal dehydrated garlic, and freeze-dried garlic products are probably more potent antihyperlipidemic agents due to their higher levels of γ-glutamyl-S-alk(en)ylcysteines.