Inhibitory effects of diallyl sulfide on the activation of Kupffer cell in lipopolysaccharide/d-galactosamine-induced acute liver injury in mice

Harmine ameliorates CCl4-induced acute liver injury through suppression of autophagy and inflammation

CCl4-induced acute liver injury (ALI) is characterized by heightened autophagy, inflammation, and oxidative damage. Accumulating evidence suggests that harmine exerts beneficial effects in countering CCl4-induced ALI by mitigating inflammation and oxidative stress. However, the impact of autophagy on CCl4-induced ALI and the protective role of harmine remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the potential protective effects of harmine against CCl4-induced ALI in mice by suppressing autophagy and inflammation. Male Kunming mice were orally administered harmine or bifendate for seven days. Subsequently, one hour after the final administration, the model group and treatment groups were intraperitoneally injected with CCl4 to induce ALI. The findings revealed that harmine significantly reduced the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum, and ameliorated the liver histopathological changes induced by CCl4. Furthermore, harmine diminished the levels of TNF-α and IL-6, restored the levels of glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and suppressed the production of nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver. Mechanistically, harmine down-regulated LC3B II/I, p38 MAPK, TLR4, and NF-κB levels, while upregulating p62, Bcl-2, Beclin1, ULK1, and p-mTOR expression. In conclusion, harmine mitigated CCl4-induced ALI by inhibiting autophagy and inflammation through the p38 MAPK/mTOR autophagy pathway, the Bcl-2/Beclin1 pathway, and the TLR4/NF-κB pathway.

Bioactivity and health effects of garlic essential oil: A review

Garlic (Allium sativum L.), the underground bulb of the Allium plant in the family Liliaceae, is a common and popular spice that has historically been used to prevent and treat many different diseases such as pain, deafness, diarrhea, tumors, and other healthy problems. Garlic essential oil contains a variety of organosulfur compounds, such as the most representative diallyl disulfides (DADS) and diallyl trisulfides (DATS), which have attracted great interest in medicine, food, and agriculture because of their rich biological activities. This paper reviews the research progress on the composition and bioactivities of garlic essential oil mixtures and the bioactivity of some typical monomeric sulfides in garlic essential oil. The active mechanisms of representative sulfides in garlic essential oil were analyzed, and the applications of garlic essential oil in functional food, food additives, and clinical treatment were discussed. Combined with the current research status, the limitations and development direction of garlic essential oil in the study of molecular mechanism were discussed, which is of great significance to the development of garlic essential oil as a natural and safe alternative medicine for treatment.

Allyl methyl trisulfide protected against LPS-induced acute lung injury in mice via inhibition of the NF-κB and MAPK pathways

Allyl methyl trisulfide (AMTS) is one major lipid-soluble organosulfur compound of garlic. Previous studies have reported the potential therapeutic effect of garlic on acute lung injury (ALI) or its severe condition acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but the specific substances that exert the regulatory effects are still unclear. In this study, we investigate the protective effects of AMTS on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI mice and explored the underlying mechanisms. In vivo experiments, ICR mice were pretreated with 25–100 mg/kg AMTS for 7 days and followed by intratracheal instillation of LPS (1.5 mg/kg). The results showed that AMTS significantly attenuated LPS-induced deterioration of lung pathology, demonstrated by ameliorative edema and protein leakage, and improved pulmonary histopathological morphology. Meanwhile, the expression of inflammatory mediators and the infiltration of inflammation-regulation cells induced by LPS were also inhibited. In vitro experiments also revealed that AMTS could alleviate inflammation response and inhibit the exaggeration of macrophage M1 polarization in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. Mechanistically, we identified that AMTS treatment could attenuate the LPS-induced elevation of protein expression of p-IκBα, nuclear NF-κB-p65, COX2, iNOS, p-P38, p-ERK1/2, and p-JNK. Collectively, these data suggest that AMTS could attenuate LPS-induced ALI and the molecular mechanisms should be related to the suppression of the NF-κB and MAPKs pathways.