Diallyl sulfide

Diallyl sulfide occurs at low levels in garlic and mustard oils. It is less toxic than diallyl disulfide and shows pronounced protective activity.

Skin. A 0.5 percent patch test on 22 volunteers produced no irritation or sensitization. Undiluted, it was extremely irritating to rabbit skin. In garlic-sensitive patients it caused no sensitization reactions.

Oral. Acute oral LD50 in mice is 2.03 g/kg (male) and 1.81 g/kg (female), in rats 2.98 g/kg. Acute dermal LD50 in rabbits exceeds 5 g/kg.

Cardiovascular. Strong antiplatelet aggregation activity in vitro.

Liver. Protects against paracetamol- and aflatoxin B1-induced liver toxicity. Much less cytotoxic to hepatocytes than diallyl disulfide.

Cancer. Significant chemopreventive activity across multiple animal models, including colon, lung, skin, esophageal, liver and breast cancers.

Diallyl sulfide is mainly metabolized to allyl methyl sulfide in rat hepatocytes. The compound induces phase II detoxifying enzymes such as quinone reductase and glutathione S-transferase.

Diallyl sulfide shows more pronounced protective activity than diallyl disulfide, being both hepatoprotective and chemopreventive without significant hepatocyte toxicity.