Phytochemical Alliin Protects the Liver Cell Integrity and Viability Against Liver Cancer

By Kyle J. Norton

The liver is the largest detoxed internal organ with a function to filter out blood coming  from the intestines before passing them to other parts of the body,

Additionally, the liver also produces cholesterol to aid digestion, production of steroid hormones, vitamin D and building strong cell membranes.

Liver cancer is a chronic condition caused by irregular cell growth due to the alternation of liver cell DNA.

Compared to normal liver cells growth which is stopped after a certain stage of division, liver cancer cells can grow indefinitely to form a tumor, leading to reduced function of the liver.

According to the statistics provided by the American Cancer Society, in 2019, about 42,030 new cases (29,480 in men and 12,550 in women) will be diagnosed.

Primary liver cancer and intrahepatic bile duct cancer also cause the death of 31,780 people (21,600 men and 10,180 women)  in 2019.

In the Western world, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD), a spectrum of hepatic disorders induced by obesity and metabolic syndrome, is a recognized risk factor for liver cancer.

Dr. György Baffy at the  Harvard Medical School wrote, "Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is the fifth most prevalent cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a spectrum of hepatic disorders associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome, is a recognized risk factor for HCC".

And, "NAFLD that is advanced to cirrhosis carries the highest risk for HCC, but there is an increasing concern that NAFLD-associated HCC may also occur in the non-cirrhotic liver".

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 a potential compound for the treatment of liver cancer, researchers examined the bioactive compound alliin isolated from garlic in an animal model, against liver cell DNA damage.

The study included rats induced liver cancer by N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) were treated by administration of garlic powders for 2 weeks (5% of the diet).

According to the liver comet assay, injection of different garlic powders demonstrated a significant liver protective effect by a 35-60% reduction in DNA damage induced by N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in rat liver.

Additional injection of alliin content of the garlic powder showed a strongly proportional decrease in NDMA induced DNA alteration.

Three garlic powders with or without alliin also protected the liver cell against DNA damage induced by aflatoxin B1 in the liver.

However, these decreases were not correlated to the allicin content of the garlic powders.

In other words, additional alliin increased the garlic powder function in the inhibition of liver cancer initiation caused by NDMA while alliin found in the garlic must work with other compounds synergically to induce the same effects.

Taken altogether, alliin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of liver cancer, 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.

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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.

Sources
(1) Inhibition of carcinogen-induced DNA damage in rat liver and colon by garlic powders with varying alliin content by Singh V1, Belloir C, Siess MH, Le Bon AM. (PubMed)
(2) Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, and Prevention by György Baffy. (PMC)