Effect of garlic active principle, diallyl disulfide, on cell viability, lipid peroxidation, glutathione concentration and its related enzyme activities in primary rat hepatocytes.

This study investigated the effects of various concentrations and incubation time intervals of diallyl disulfide (DADS), the active principle of garlic, on: 1. cell viability, 2. lipid peroxidation, and 3. glutathione (GSH) concentration and its related enzyme activities of rat hepatocytes. According to the results of LDH leakage and microscopic examination, 0.5 and 1 mM DADS did not significantly affect the viability of hepatocytes. However, significant decrease in cell viability according to increased LDH leakage and significant changes in morphology of hepatocytes were observed at 2 mM DADS (P < 0.05). Lipid peroxidation was also detected when the hepatocytes were treated with 2 mM DADS. At 0.5 mM DADS, a higher GSH content was found in the hepatocytes although not at a statistically significant level. 0.5 and 1 mM DADS has little effect on the activities of glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx); however a significant decrease in GST, GPx and glutathione reductase (GRd) activities was observed at 2 mM DADS. Once the media of 2 mM DADS was replaced with fresh medium at 24 hr treatment, the activities of GST, GRd and GPx were recovered, although they were still lower than the control values.