Metabolism and pharmacokinetics studies of allyl methyl disulfide in rats

Inhibitory Activities of Sulfur Compounds in Garlic Essential Oil against Alzheimer's Disease-Related Enzymes and Their Distribution in the Mouse Brain

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease. Garlic reportedly has various physiological effects, including a role in protecting against dementia. However, the action mechanisms of garlic on AD are not entirely clear. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory activity of garlic essential oil (GEO) against AD-related enzymes and evaluated the distribution of active substances in GEO to the brain. We found that several sulfur compounds in GEO significantly inhibited AD-related enzymes. Sulfur compounds were detected in the serum and brain 6 h post administration. The ratios of allyl mercaptan (24.0 ± 3.9%) and allyl methyl sulfide (49.8 ± 15.6%) in the brain were significantly higher than those in GEO, while those of dimethyl trisulfide (0.89 ± 34.8%), allyl methyl trisulfide (0.41 ± 19.0%), and diallyl trisulfide (0.43 ± 72.8%) in the brain were significantly lower than those in GEO. Similar results were observed in the serum, suggesting that the organosulfur compounds were converted to allyl mercaptan or allyl methyl sulfide in the body. Although allyl mercaptan and allyl methyl sulfide are not the main components of GEO, they might be key molecules to understand the bioactivities of GEO in the body.

From the distinctive smell to therapeutic effects: Garlic for cardiovascular, hepatic, gut, diabetes and chronic kidney disease

Garlic, a member of the Allium family, widely used in cooking for many centuries, displays well described antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as a result of its constituent organosulfur compounds, such as alliin, allicin, ajoene S-allyl-cysteine, diallyl sulfide and diallyl disulfide, among others. Although garlic has demonstrated beneficial effects in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, its efficacy as a therapeutic intervention in chronic kidney disease remains to be proven. This review thus focuses on the potential benefits of garlic as a treatment option in chronic kidney disease. and its ability to mitigate associated cardiovascular complications and gut dysbiosis.

SG1002 and Catenated Divalent Organic Sulfur Compounds as Promising Hydrogen Sulfide Prodrugs

Significance: Sulfur has a critical role in protein structure/function and redox status/signaling in all living organisms. Although hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and sulfane sulfur (SS) are now recognized as central players in physiology and pathophysiology, the full scope and depth of sulfur metabolome's impact on human health and healthy longevity has been vastly underestimated and is only starting to be grasped. Since many pathological conditions have been related to abnormally low levels of H2S/SS in blood and/or tissues, and are amenable to treatment by H2S supplementation, development of safe and efficacious H2S donors deserves to be undertaken with a sense of urgency; these prodrugs also hold the promise of becoming widely used for disease prevention and as antiaging agents. Recent Advances: Supramolecular tuning of the properties of well-known molecules comprising chains of sulfur atoms (diallyl trisulfide [DATS], S8) was shown to lead to improved donors such as DATS-loaded polymeric nanoparticles and SG1002. Encouraging results in animal models have been obtained with SG1002 in heart failure, atherosclerosis, ischemic damage, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy; with TC-2153 in Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, age-related memory decline, fragile X syndrome, and cocaine addiction; and with DATS in brain, colon, gastric, and breast cancer. Critical Issues: Mode-of-action studies on allyl polysulfides, benzyl polysulfides, ajoene, and 12 ring-substituted organic disulfides and thiosulfonates led several groups of researchers to conclude that the anticancer effect of these compounds is not mediated by H2S and is only modulated by reactive oxygen species, and that their central model of action is selective protein S-thiolation. Future Directions: SG1002 is likely to emerge as the H2S donor of choice for acquiring knowledge on this gasotransmitter's effects in animal models, on account of its unique ability to efficiently generate H2S without byproducts and in a slow and sustained mode that is dose independent and enzyme independent. Efficient tuning of H2S donation characteristics of DATS, dibenzyl trisulfide, and other hydrophobic H2S prodrugs for both oral and parenteral administration will be achieved not only by conventional structural modification of a lead molecule but also through the new "supramolecular tuning" paradigm.