Allicin is a reactive sulfur species (RSS) and defence substance from garlic (Allium sativum L.). The compound is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that is also effective against multiple drug resistant (MDR) strains. A detailed protocol for allicin synthesis based on diallyl-disulfide (DADS) oxidation by H₂O₂ using acetic acid as a catalyst was published in 2001 by Lawson and Wang. Here we report on...

A strategy using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), mass spectrometry (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), chemical synthesis, and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) cell viability assay to identify allicin as the active anticancer compound in aqueous garlic extract (AGE) is described. Changing the pH...

The Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial pathogen is reputed for its resistance to multiple antibiotics, and this property is strongly associated with the development of biofilms. Bacterial biofilms form by aggregation of microorganisms on a solid surface and secretion of an extracellular polysaccharide substances that acts as a physical protection barrier for the encased bacteria. In...

Sir—In their recent article, Piscitelli et al. [1] advise that " patients receiving saqui-navir as their sole protease inhibitor should avoid using garlic supplements " [1, p. 238]. In their study, healthy volunteers who received the antiretroviral drug sa-quinavir and a garlic supplement exhibited a significant decline in plasma levels of saquinavir. As one reason for the decline in systemic l...

Sir—In their recent article, Piscitelli et al. [1] advise that " patients receiving saqui-navir as their sole protease inhibitor should avoid using garlic supplements " [1, p. 238]. In their study, healthy volunteers who received the antiretroviral drug sa-quinavir and a garlic supplement exhibited a significant decline in plasma levels of saquinavir. As one reason for the decline in systemic l...

The ability of Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites to destroy monolayers of baby hamster kidney cells is inhibited by allicin, one of the active principles of garlic. Cysteine proteinases, an important contributor to amebic virulence, as well as alcohol dehydrogenase, are strongly inhibited by allicin.

Allicin, an extract from garlic, has been shown to be a systemic and pulmonary arterial vasodilator that acts by an unknown mechanism. In the present experiments, pulmonary vascular responses to allicin (10-100 microg), allyl mercaptan (0.3-1 mg), and diallyl disulfide (0.3-1 mg) were studied in the isolated lung of the rat under constant-flow conditions. When baseline tone in the pulmonary vas...

OBJECTIVES To illuminate the functional effects of allicin on rats with cognitive deficits induced by tunicamycin (TM) and the molecular mechanism of this process. MATERIALS AND METHODS 200-250 g male SD rats were divided into three groups at random: control group (n=12), TM group (5 μl, 50 μM, ICV, n=12), and allicin treatment group (180 mg/kg/d with chow diet, n=12). After 16 weeks of allic...

"e Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial pathogen is reputed for its resistance to multiple antibiotics, and this property is strongly associated with the development of biofilms. Bacterial biofilms form by aggregation of microorganisms on a solid surface and secretion of an extracellular polysaccharide substances that acts as a physical protection barrier for the encased bacteria. In ...

I thought garlic would be a simple, herb-with-some-data-alot-of-hype-some hope-subject for an article. Fat chance. It seems a basic premise was remiss. Until recently most people were convinced that allicin, a sulfur-containing constituent of crushed garlic, was responsible for garlic’s health effects. Manufacturers standardize their garlic supplements according to the percent allicin. Scientis...