Investigation of in vivo radioprotective and in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of garlic (Allum sativum).

Objective: In this study, we aimed to assess the in vivo antioxidant potential via evaluating radioprotective effects in kidney and liver tissues of rats and in vitro antimicrobial and radical scavenger activity of garlic extract.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-two mature female Wistar rats were divided into four groups, each consisting of eight rats. Experimental groups were control group (1), GE group (2), irradiation group (3) and both GE and irradiation group (4). For the rats in two groups (group 3 and 4), irradiation was performed on a Cobalt-60 unit using a single fraction of 20 Gy. The GE was given to rats once a day during the month before irradiation and continued for five days after irradiation. The garlic cloves were peeled on crushed ice and 50 g of garlic was cut into small pieces and homogenized in 75 mL of 0.9% NaCI. The concentration of this garlic preparation was considered to be 500 mg/mL on the basis of weight of the starting material (0.5 g/mL). This extract was administered to rats by oral gavage.

Results: Our findings suggest that the use of garlic extract could be useful for addressing the limited therapeutic gain due to the radiation sensitivity of normal tissues adjacent to the tumour which are exposed to radiation, by strengthening the antioxidant system. In vitro and in vivo experiments seem to yield similar conclusions.

Conclusions: It can be stated that garlic is may be recommended to be sufficiently included in the diets of radiotherapy patients considering its antioxidant and antimicrobial efficacy.