Effect of Sulfur-Containing Active Principles in Garlic on the Physiological Function of Hepatocytes

Abstract

Garlic has been recognized since ancient times not only as a flavoring agent for food but also for its medicinal properties, including bactericidal, antineoplastic, hypolipidemic and hypocholesterolemic effects. We have tried to use hepatocytes isolated from rats by two steps liver perfusion as an experimental model and investigated: the effect of garlic active principle, diallyl sulfide (DAS) and diallyl disulfide (DADS), on the cell viability of primary rat hepatocytes; the effect of DAS and DADS on the alflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-induced DNA damage in primary rat hepatocytes; the metabolites of DAS and DADS in primary rat hepatocytes. According to the results of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage and microscopic examination, 0.5 and 2 mM DAS or 0.5 and 1 mM DADS treatments did not have any adverse effects on the viability of hepatocytes. On the other hand, primary rat hepatocytes induced with DNA damage by AFB1 were used as an experimental model. According to the results of LDH leakage, 0.5 and 2 mM DAS or 0.5 and 1 mM DADS significantly increased the viability of hepatocytes compared with the AFB1 controls (P <0.05). Also, 0.5 and 2 mM DAS or 0.5 and 1 mM DADS could significantly decreased the DNA damage of hepatocytes induced by AFB1 (P <0.05). Our results showed that DAS or DADS might protect hepatocytes from AFB1-induced DNA damage via increasing the activities of glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). In terms of the metabolites of DAS and DADS in hepatocytes, we have found that allyl mercaptan (AM) and allyl methyl sulfide (AMS) were the metabolites of DADS, and AMS was a metabolite of DAS, according to the results of using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with the Purge and Trap system.