29
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Hydrogen sulfide mediates the vasoactivity of garlic.

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          The consumption of garlic is inversely correlated with the progression of cardiovascular disease, although the responsible mechanisms remain unclear. Here we show that human RBCs convert garlic-derived organic polysulfides into hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S), an endogenous cardioprotective vascular cell signaling molecule. This H(2)S production, measured in real time by a novel polarographic H(2)S sensor, is supported by glucose-maintained cytosolic glutathione levels and is to a large extent reliant on reduced thiols in or on the RBC membrane. H(2)S production from organic polysulfides is facilitated by allyl substituents and by increasing numbers of tethering sulfur atoms. Allyl-substituted polysulfides undergo nucleophilic substitution at the alpha carbon of the allyl substituent, thereby forming a hydropolysulfide (RS(n)H), a key intermediate during the formation of H(2)S. Organic polysulfides (R-S(n)-R'; n > 2) also undergo nucleophilic substitution at a sulfur atom, yielding RS(n)H and H(2)S. Intact aorta rings, under physiologically relevant oxygen levels, also metabolize garlic-derived organic polysulfides to liberate H(2)S. The vasoactivity of garlic compounds is synchronous with H(2)S production, and their potency to mediate relaxation increases with H(2)S yield, strongly supporting our hypothesis that H(2)S mediates the vasoactivity of garlic. Our results also suggest that the capacity to produce H(2)S can be used to standardize garlic dietary supplements.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
          Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
          Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
          1091-6490
          0027-8424
          Nov 13 2007
          : 104
          : 46
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Departments of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
          Article
          0705710104
          10.1073/pnas.0705710104
          2084282
          17951430
          3d1c4250-d808-492e-b0b1-ef7cee1d07c9
          History

          Comments

          Comment on this article