Diallyl Trisulfide Inhibits Platelet Aggregation through the Modification of Sulfhydryl Groups

Advances in the study of vascular related protective effect of garlic (Allium sativum) extract and compounds

Garlic (Allium sativum) is a functional food containing multiple bioactive compounds that find widespread applications in culinary and medicinal practices. It consists of multiple chemical components, including allicin and alliin. This article offers a comprehensive review of the protective effects of garlic extracts and their active constituents on the vascular system. In vitro and in vivo experiments have shown that garlic extracts and their active ingredients possess various bioactive properties. These substances demonstrate beneficial effects on blood vessels by demonstrating anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, inhibiting lipid accumulation and migration, preventing lipid peroxidation, promoting angiogenesis, reducing platelet aggregation, enhancing endothelial function, and inhibiting endothelial cell apoptosis. In clinical studies, garlic and its extracts have demonstrated their efficacy in managing vascular system diseases, including atherosclerosis, diabetes, and high cholesterol levels. In summary, these studies highlight the potential therapeutic roles and underlying mechanisms of garlic and its constituents in managing conditions like diabetes, atherosclerosis, ischemic diseases, and other vascular disorders.

Diallyl trisulfide modulated autophagy in isoproterenol induced acute myocardial infarction

Background

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the most serious manifestation of coronary artery disease. The initial ischemia in AMI causes biochemical and metabolic alterations in cardiomyocytes.

Objectives

The present study aimed to investigate the biomolecular mechanisms underlying cardioprotective effects of diallyl trisulfide (DATS) as well as captopril (CAP) in isoproterenol (ISO) induced AMI focusing on autophagy & PI3K/Akt signaling.

Methods

Seventy male Albino rats were divided into seven groups as follows: Normal control, ISO, ISO + LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor), DATS+ISO, CAP+ISO, DATS+LY294002 + ISO, and CAP+LY294002 + ISO. All treatments (40 mg/kg DATS, 50 mg/kg CAP & 0.3 mg/kg LY294002) were given daily for two weeks before ISO injection (85 mg/kg for 2 days). At the end of the experiment, serum and cardiac tissues were collected. Serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) were measured. Cardiac glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px), malondialdehyde (MDA), hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α), autophagy proteins (P62 & LC3IIB) and gene expression of PI3K, Akt, FOXO-1, and eNOS were assessed. Histopathological examination of heart tissue was performed.

Results

DATS and CAP significantly (p < 0.01) decreased serum CK-MB and cTnI, cardiac levels of MDA, HIF-1α, p62 and LC3IIB along with an increase in GSH-px activity compared with ISO group. Moreover, DATS and CAP significantly up-regulated PI3K, Akt, and eNOS gene expression but down-regulated FOXO-1 expression compared to ISO group. However, LY294002 reversed DATS and CAP cardioprotective effects.

Conclusion

DATS and CAP prior treatment proved cardioprotective effects via modulation of autophagy, PI3K/Akt signaling, eNOS and FOXO-1 downregulation in ISO induced AMI rat model.

The garlic-derived organosulfur compound diallyl trisulphide suppresses tissue factor function

Tissue factor (TF) is a critical initiator of extrinsic coagulation that sometimes causes thromboembolism. Diallyl trisulphide (DATS) is a secondary metabolite of allicin generated in crushed garlic, with various pharmacological effects. This study aimed to clarify the effect of DATS on the extrinsic coagulation elicited by TF and arteriosclerosis. TF activity was measured using a clotting assay in TF-expressing HL60 cells. DATS inhibited TF activity in a dose-dependent manner. TF expression in TNF-α-stimulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells was examined using real-time PCR and western blotting. DATS inhibited TF mRNA and protein expression induced by TNF-α via inhibition of JNK signalling. The effect of DATS on arteriosclerosis was also examined in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. DATS administration in these mice tended to decrease atherosclerotic lesion size. These results strongly suggest that DATS prevents thromboembolism triggered by atherosclerosis via the inhibition of plaque formation and TF function.

Effect of Diallyl Trisulfide on TNF-α-induced CCL2/MCP-1 Release in Genetically Different Triple-negative Breast Cancer Cells

BACKGROUND/AIM

Diallyl trisulfide (DATS) has been shown to prevent and inhibit breast carcinogenesis. CCL2/MCP-1 has been shown to play a significant role in breast cancer. This study explored DATS efficacy on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

DATS efficacy on TNF-α induced TNBC cells were examined via trypan blue exclusion test, wound-healing assay, human cytokine arrays, ELISA, and RT-PCR.

RESULTS

DATS significantly induced cell death and inhibited cell migration. Expression of CCL2/MCP-1, IL-6, PDGF-BB, NT-3, and GM-CSF in TNF-α-treated cells increased. However, DATS significantly decreased the expression of CCL2/MCP-1 in TNF-α-treated MDA-MB-231 but not in MDA-MB-468 cells. DATS significantly down-regulated mRNA expression of IKBKE and MAPK8 in both cell lines, indicating a possible effect in genes involved in the NF-κB and MAPK signaling.

CONCLUSION

DATS may have a role in TNBC therapy and prevention by targeting CCL2.

Nutrition phytochemicals affecting platelet signaling and responsiveness: implications for thrombosis and hemostasis

Cardiovascular disease, in particular due to arterial thrombosis, is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity, with crucial roles of platelets in thrombus formation. For multiple plant-derived phytochemicals found in common dietary components, claims have been made regarding cardiovascular health and antiplatelet activities. Here we present a systematic overview of the published effects of common phytochemicals, applied in vitro or in nutritional intervention studies, on agonist-induced platelet activation properties and platelet signaling pathways. Comparing the phytochemical effects per structural class, we included general phenols: curcuminoids (e.g., curcumin), lignans (honokiol, silybin), phenolic acids (caffeic and chlorogenic acid), derivatives of these (shikimic acid) and stilbenoids (isorhapontigenin, resveratrol). Furthermore, we evaluated the flavonoid polyphenols, including anthocyanidins (delphinidin, malvidin), flavan-3-ols (catechins), flavanones (hesperidin), flavones (apigenin, nobiletin), flavonols (kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin), isoflavones (daidzein, genistein); and terpenoids including carotenes and limonene; and finally miscellaneous compounds like betalains, indoles, organosulfides (diallyl trisulfide) and phytosterols. We furthermore discuss the implications for selected phytochemicals to interfere in thrombosis and hemostasis, indicating their possible clinical relevance. Lastly, we provide guidance on which compounds are of interest for further platelet-related research.

Diallyl Trisulfide Prevents Obesity and Decreases miRNA-335 Expression in Adipose Tissue in a Diet-Induced Obesity Rat Model

SCOPE

Diallyl trisulfide (DATS), an organosulfur compound generates in crushed garlic, has various beneficial health effects. A growing body of evidence indicates that miRNAs are involved in the pathology of lifestyle diseases including obesity. The anti-obesogenic effect of garlic is previously reported; however, the effects of DATS on obesity, and the relationship between garlic compounds and the involvement of miRNA remains unclear. Here, the anti-obesogenic activity of DATS and the potential role of miRNA in a diet-induced obesity rat model are investigated.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Oral administration of DATS suppressed body and white adipose tissue (WAT) weight gain in rats fed a high-fat diet compared with vehicle-administered rats. DATS lowered the plasma and liver triglyceride levels in obese rats, and decreased lipogenic mRNA levels including those of Srebp1c, Fasn, and Scd1 in the liver. DATS also suppressed de novo lipogenesis in the liver. Transcriptomic analyses of miRNA and mRNA in the epididymal WAT of obese rats using microarrays revealed that DATS decreased miRNA-335 expression and normalized the obesity-related mRNA transcriptomic signatures in epididymal WAT.

CONCLUSION

The potent anti-obesogenic effects of DATS and its possible mechanism of action was clearly demonstrated in this study.

A comprehensive review of natural products to fight liver fibrosis: Alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides, coumarins and other compounds

The discovery of drugs to treat liver fibrosis has long been a challenge over the past decades due to its complicated pathogenesis. As a primary approach for drug development, natural products account for 30% of clinical drugs used for disease treatment. Therefore, natural products are increasingly important for their medicinal value in liver fibrosis therapy. In this part of the review, special focus is placed on the effect and mechanism of natural compounds, including alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides, coumarins and others. A total of 36 kinds of natural compounds demonstrate significant antifibrotic effects in various liver fibrosis models in vivo and in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in vitro. Revealing the mechanism will provide further basis for clinical conversion, as well as accelerate drug discovery. The mechanism was further summarized with the finding of network regulation by several natural products, such as oxymatrine, paeoniflorin, ginsenoside Rg1 and taurine. Moreover, there are still improvements needed in investigating clinical efficacy, determining mechanisms, and combining applications, as well as semisynthesis and modification. Therefore, natural products area promising resource for agents that protect against liver fibrosis.

Allicin pharmacology: Common molecular mechanisms against neuroinflammation and cardiovascular diseases

According to investigations in phytomedicine and ethnopharmacology, the therapeutic properties of garlic (Allium sativum) have been described by ancestral cultures. Notwithstanding, it is of particular concern to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying this millenary empirical knowledge. Allicin (S-allyl prop-2-ene-1-sulfinothioate), a thioester of sulfenic acid, is one of the main bioactive compounds present in garlic, and it is responsible for the particular aroma of the spice. The pharmacological attributes of allicin integrate a broad spectrum of properties (e.g., anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antibiotic, antifungal, antiparasitic, antioxidant, nephroprotective, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, and anti-tumoral activities, among others). The primary goal of the present article is to review and clarify the common molecular mechanisms by which allicin and its derivates molecules may perform its therapeutic effects on cardiovascular diseases and neuroinflammatory processes. The intricate interface connecting the cardiovascular and nervous systems suggests that the impairment of one organ could contribute to the dysfunction of the other. Allicin might target the cornerstone of the pathological processes underlying cardiovascular and neuroinflammatory disorders, like inflammation, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) hyperactivation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Indeed, the current evidence suggests that allicin improves mitochondrial function by enhancing the expression of HSP70 and NRF2, decreasing RAAS activation, and promoting mitochondrial fusion processes. Finally, allicin represents an attractive therapeutic alternative targeting the complex interaction between cardiovascular and neuroinflammatory disorders.