Preventive effects of diallyl sulfide on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene induced DNA alkylation damage in mouse skin.

Mutations that occur through DNA strand breaks are the prerequisites for the development of tumors, which ultimately leads to various genetic disorders including cancer. A number of naturally occurring compounds including certain dietary constituents play an important role in causation and prevention of a number of genetic diseases. Diallyl sulfide (DAS), a volatile organosulfur compound present in garlic has been shown to possess various pharmacological effects including cancer preventive properties. Now we are reporting the antimutagenic properties of DAS on 7,12- dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, induced DNA strand breaks in mouse skin, using an alkaline unwinding assay. DAS (2.5-10 mg/kg body-weight) was applied topically, prior and post to DMBA (5 mg/kg body-weight) at the sampling time of 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. DAS application resulted in a significant (p < 0.001) protection in DMBA-induced DNA strand breaks. The pre-treatment of DAS (10 mg/kg body-weight) showed 68.35% protection and post-treatment showed 59.49% protection, at an intermittent period of 48 h, against DMBA-induced DNA strand breakage. These findings suggest that DAS can effectively check the mutations induced by environmental toxicants.