Phytochemical Allicin, Protects the Cardiovascular System With NO Side Effects, Scientists Find

Allicin, a bioactive compound found abundantly in garlic and onion may be the next pharmaceutical target to identify the single ingredient medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, some scientists suggested.

Cardiovascular diseases are a class of chronic and medical conditions of heart and blood vessel disease related to the plaque build-up in the walls of the arteries that cause the blockage of blood flow and reduced the oxygen and nutrients rich blood to reach the heart, leading to heart attack and stroke,

There are many causes of heart diseases. Most heart diseases are caused by high blood pressure that contributes to the hardening of the arteries.
High levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) build up in the arteries as a result of uncontrolled diet with high levels of saturated fat and trans fat.

All these add to the formation of atherosclerosis lesions and eventually arterial blockage or anything that serves to damage the inner lining of blood vessels and impedes the transportation of oxygen and nutrition to the heart can be defined as a risk of heart disease.

Dr. P. Scarborough, the lead author in the study "An index of unhealthy lifestyle is associated with coronary heart disease mortality rates for small areas in England after adjustment for deprivation" wrote, "Sets of synthetic estimates of the ward-level prevalence of low fruit and vegetable consumption, obesity, raised blood pressure, raised cholesterol and smoking were combined to develop an index of an unhealthy lifestyle".


These results suggested that people who follow the Western diet with high consumption of saturated and trans fat, red meats and processed food accompanied physical inactivity are associated with the substantially increased risk of cardiovascular disease.


On the other hand, people who are nonsmokers and follow a traditional diet with high intake fruits and vegetables and whole-grain and daily moderate exercise have a lower risk of the disease onset.

If you experience symptoms of chest pain, tightness, and chest discomfort (angina), shortness of breath and weakness or coldness in your legs or arms, please check with your doctor immediately, you may be at the early onset of cardiovascular disease.


Allicin is phytochemical containing sulfur in the class of organosulfur compound, found abundantly in onion and garlic.

In the concerns of hyperlipidemia.cause of cardiovascular disease, researchers at the Taishan Medical University, conducted an investigation to test the effects of combination therapy of allicin and fenofibrate on the endothelial and liver functions in rats.


In the study, healthy male Wistar rats fed high-fat diet were treated with fenofibrate (80 mg/kg per day) alone, allicin (60 mg/kg per day) alone and a lower dosage of combined therapy (allicin 20 mg/kg per day and fenofibrate 30 mg/kg per day) respectively for 8 weeks.

At the final phase, compared with high-fat diet control, fenofibrate alone or the combined therapy increased remarkably the levels of high-density lipoprotein respectively (P<0.05).

Both single and combined therapy of fenofibrate and allicin significantly enhanced the levels of NO (P<0.01 or P<0.05), but the combined therapy had the greatest high endothelial-dependent vascular relaxation (EDVR) responses. These suggested that both ingredients processed a significant effect in enhancing vascular relaxation.

Futhermore, the combined therapy also inhibited the levels of ALT and AST caused by infection of a high-fat diet in the stimulation of oxidative stress.


Additionally, in the search of chemicals that arise from natural food sources with the potential to provide beneficial effects to the cardiovascular system, researchers at the heart team at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University launched a study to test the effect of allicin om heart diseases.


Application of Allicin demonstrated cardioprotective effects by inducing vasorelaxation and alleviating various pathological conditions of CVD, including cardiac hypertrophy, angiogenesis, platelet aggregation, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia.

Allicin was also discovered to further protect the cardiovascular system by enhancing the antioxidant status by lowering the level of reactive oxygen species and stimulating the production of glutathione.


Dr. Chan JY, the lead author, said, "From the pharmacokinetic studies, allicin is known to be hydrophobic and can be readily absorbed through the cell membrane without inducing any damage to the phospholipid bilayer and then rapidly metabolized to exert pharmacological effects that are important to the cardiovascular system".

Taken all together, Allicin, the bioactive compound may be considered a functional supplement for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, depending on the further differentiation in the human study


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.
References
(3) The effect of combination therapy of allicin and fenofibrate on high fat diet-induced vascular endothelium dysfunction and liver damage in rats BY Li W, Wang D, Song G, Zuo C, Qiao X, Qin S.(PubMed)
(4) A review of the cardiovascular benefits and antioxidant properties of allicin by Chan JY, Yuen AC, Chan RY, Chan SW.(PubMed)
(5) An index of unhealthy lifestyle is associated with coronary heart disease mortality rates for small areas in England after adjustment for deprivation by P. Scarborough,⁎ S. Allender, M. Rayner, and M. Goldacre. (PMC)