Effect of garlic sulfur compounds on neutrophil infiltration and damage to the intestinal mucosa by endotoxin in rats.

We investigated the protective effects of garlic sulfur compounds (GSCs), specifically, diallyl sulfide (DAS), diallyl disulfide (DADS), and diallyl trisulfide (DATS), on endotoxin-induced intestinal damage. Wistar rats received by gavage 0.125 or 0.025 mmol/kg body wt of each GSC or the vehicle (corn oil; 2 mL/kg body wt) every other day for 2 weeks before being injected with endotoxin (ip, 5 mg/kg body wt). Control rats were administered corn oil and were injected with sterile saline. Rats were killed at 18 h after injection. Both doses of DAS suppressed endotoxin-induced neutrophilia, serum levels of sICAM-1 and CINC-1, cellular CD11b on neutrophils, and intestinal contents of ICAM-1, CINC-1, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta (p<0.05). DADS suppressed endotoxin-induced intestinal contents of ICAM-1, TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta at both doses, but only suppressed the serum sICAM-1 level and cellular CD11b on neutrophils at the low dose (p<0.05). DATS did not ameliorate the endotoxin-induced serum level of sICAM-1 or CINC-1 but suppressed intestinal IL-1beta at both doses. The low but not the high dose of DATS also ameliorated the intestinal contents of ICAM-1 and TNF-alpha (p<0.05). All GSCs reversed endotoxin-induced neutrophil infiltration and damage in the intestine, and the order of the effects of these GSCs to normalize intestinal morphology was DAS>DADS>DATS.