Antioxidant activity and leukemia initiation prevention in vitro and in vivo by N-acetyl-L-cysteine.

N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) is the most abundant water-soluble component of garlic. No study to date has studied the leukemia prevention ability of NAC in mouse systemic leukemia model. The current study aimed to investigate the leukemia initiation prevention potential of NAC in a mouse model. The cytotoxic concentration of NAC was determined first in HL-60 cells, and its in vivo activity was studied in a mouse acute myelocytic leukemia model with WEHI-3 leukemia cells. The results showed that a non-toxic concentration of NAC efficiently scavenged free-radicals, lowered lipid peroxidation and reduced DNA damage induced by hydrogen peroxide in a cultured HL-60 leukemia cell line. NAC also elevated the cellular antioxidant enzyme activity significantly. Furthermore, NAC prevented mouse death induced by injection of murine WEHI-3 leukemia cells and reduced organ damage, as well as activated antioxidant mechanisms. The results of this study provided strong evidence that NAC may have potential benefits in terms of elevating antioxidant activity and preventing leukemia initiation.