Garlic-Derived Organic Polysulfides and Myocardial Protection

Abstract

For centuries, garlic has been shown to exert substantial medicinal effects and is considered to be one of the best disease-preventative foods. Diet is important in the maintenance of health and prevention of many diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD). Preclinical and clinical evidence has shown that garlic reduces risks associated with CVD by lowering cholesterol, inhibiting platelet aggregation, and lowering blood pressure. In recent years, emerging evidence has shown that hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has cardioprotective and cytoprotective properties. The active metabolite in garlic, allicin, is readily degraded into organic diallyl polysulfides that are potent H2S donors in the presence of thiols. Preclinical studies have shown that enhancement of endogenous H2S has an impact on vascular reactivity. In CVD models, the administration of H2S prevents myocardial injury and dysfunction. It is hypothesized that these beneficial effects of garlic may be mediated by H2S-dependent mechanisms. This review evaluates the current knowledge concerning the cardioprotective effects of garlic-derived diallyl polysulfides.

Keywords: acute myocardial infarction; cardioprotection; heart failure; hydrogen sulfide; nitric oxide.

Conflict of interest statement

Author disclosures: JM Bradley, CL Organ, and DJ Lefer, no conflicts of interest.

© 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Figures

FIGURE 1

Garlic-derived polysulfides promote cardioprotection through H2S and NO signaling. This schematic illustrates the hypothesis that the garlic-derived diallyl polysulfides (i.e., DAS, DADS, and DATS) are potent H2S donors that increase phosphorylation at the eNOS active site Ser1177, enhancing NO bioavailability and inducing cardioprotective mechanisms. DADS, diallyl disulfide; DAS, diallyl sulfide; DATS, diallyl trisulfide; eNOS, endothelial nitric oxide synthase; H2S, hydrogen sulfide; RSNO, nitrosothiols.