Phytochemical Alliin Gobbles Up Plagues Against the Onset of Atherosclerosis

By Kyle J. Norton

Atherosclerosis is a medical condition induced arterial narrowing due to the accumulation of plague that weakens the arterial wall.

Atherosclerosis is the most common cause of heart disease and stroke in the Western world, depending on the location of oxygenated rich blood flow blockage.

Plague is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances in the blood.

According to the epidemiological studies, diseases associated with atherosclerosis include coronary heart disease (plaque in arteries in or leading to the heart), angina (chest pain from reduced blood flow to the heart muscle), carotid artery disease (plaque in neck arteries supplying blood to the brain),  and peripheral artery disease (plaque in arteries of the extremities, especially the legs).

According to the statistics provided by the CDC, coronary heart disease (CHD)  caused by atherosclerosis is the most common type of heart disease, that kills over 370,000 people annually.

Every year about 735,000 Americans has a heart attack. Of these, 525,000 are a first heart attack and 210,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack

Although there are many risk factors that increase the risk of plaque accumulation, some researchers suggested people who follow the high-fat diet without injection of an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables are at a higher risk of atherosclerosis.

Dr. Zhao Y, the lead scientist in the team of cardiovascular disease at the Chinese PLA General Hospital wrote, "Coronary artery disease has a significant genetic predisposition, which mainly results from atherosclerosis".

And, "(Pig fed with high-fat diet) At 6 months, plaque lesions appeared in the abdominal aorta and iliac artery, while at 8 months, they appeared in the coronary artery. At 12 months, atherosclerotic lesions could be found in all major arteries, while lipid core, cholesterol precipitation, and calcium deposition appeared in the most serious sites".

Alliin (S-allyl-L-cysteine-S-oxide) is a phytochemical compound sulfoxide,. a derivative of the amino acid cysteine, belonging to the class of sulfur compounds, found abundantly in fresh garlic and onion.

With an aim to find potential treatment for atherosclerosis, a leading cause of cardiovascular disease, researchers evaluated the capacity of Allium ursinum (wild garlic) leaf lyophilisate (WGLL; alliin content: 0.261%) to mitigate cardiovascular damage in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.

Selected tested New Zealand rabbits incldued in the study were divided into three groups: (i) cholesterol-free rabbit chow (control); (ii) rabbit chow containing 2% cholesterol (hypercholesterolemic, HC); (iii) rabbit chow containing 2% cholesterol + 2% WGLL (hypercholesterolemic treated, HCT); for eight weeks.

According to the differentiation at the zero- and eight-week time points, WGLL treatment protects the cardio functioning by mediating the increase in fractional shortening, right ventricular function; peak systolic velocity; tricuspid annular systolic velocity in live animals.

Furthermore, WGLL improved aortic and coronary flow.

In other words,  WGLL exerted cardiovascular protective activity by promoting the function of ventricles in blood circulation via regulating the blood pressure.

Moreover, according to the Western blot analysis, revealed WGLL-associated increases in HO-1 protein associated with reduced cardio oxidative stress and decreases in SOD-1 protein involved oxygen metabolism.

Interestingly, WGLL also expressed a significant decrease in aortic atherosclerotic plaque coverage, plasma ApoB, an important component of many lipoproteins involved in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. and the activity of LDH and CK (creatine kinase) in plasma.

Particularly, the chemical compound also inhibited the plasma LDL.

Based on the findings, researchers wrote in the final report, "The results clearly demonstrate that WGLL has complex cardioprotective effects, suggesting future strategies for its use in prevention and therapy for atherosclerotic disorders".

Taken altogether, alliin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of alliin in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters 
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally 

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


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.

Sources
(1) Anti-Atherogenic Properties of Allium ursinum Liophylisate: Impact on Lipoprotein Homeostasis and Cardiac Biomarkers in Hypercholesterolemic Rabbits by Bombicz M1,2, Priksz D3,4, Varga B5,6, Gesztelyi R7, Kertesz A8, Lengyel P9, Balogh P10, Csupor D11, Hohmann J12, Bhattoa HP13, Haines DD14, Juhasz B. (PubMed)
(2)  Atherosclerosis Induced by a High-Cholesterol and High-Fat Diet in the Inbred Strain of the Wuzhishan Miniature Pig by Zhao Y1, Xiang L1, Liu Y1, Niu M1, Yuan J1, Chen H. (PubMed)