Allicin modulates the antioxidation and detoxification capabilities of primary rat hepatocytes

The effect of allicin, an active ingredient of garlic, on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage, lipid peroxidation, glutathione (GSH) content, and GSH-related enzyme activity was investigated in primary hepatocytes. In this study, allicin was synthesized in our laboratory as an experimental material, and primary hepatocytes isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats were used as an experimental model. According to the results, hepatocytes treated with 10 μM allicin did not differ from the control on LDH leakage during various incubation times. When the hepatocytes were treated with 10 μM allicin, their levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive-substances (TBARS) did not differ significantly from that of the control within the 8-h incubation. However, the TBARS values of hepatocytes treated with 30 and 50 μM allicin were higher compared to the control after incubation for 4 h and 8 h, respectively. The hepatocyte intracellular GSH content was significantly higher than that of the control after 30 μM allicin treatment, but treatment with 50 μM allicin caused a significant GSH depletion after incubation for 4 h or longer. In addition, when hepatocytes were treated for 24 h with 10 or 30 μM allicin, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity was significantly increased compared to that of the control, whereas 50 μM allicin treatment for 24 h or longer significantly decreased the GPx activity. Glutathione reductase (GRd) activity was significantly increased when the hepatocytes were treated with 10 μM allicin for 24 h, but GRd activity significantly decreased when the hepatocytes were treated with 50 μM allicin. However, hepatocytes treated for 24 h with 10 or 30 μM allicin showed significantly increased glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity compared to the control. These results suggest that 10 μM allicin potentially enhances the antioxidation and detoxification capabilities of primary rat hepatocytes.