[TerryH]

Garlic extract & multiple myeloma

by TerryH on Sat Apr 07, 2018 11:35 am

A new study by Norwegian researchers found that, in laboratory tests, garlic extract inhibited the growth of multiple myeloma cells (see link to article and article abstract below). The study explored the potential effect of garlic extract on several different cancers, and the researchers report that "Multiple myeloma cells were found to be especially sensitive" to garlic extract.

As most people here know, lots and lots of things have been found to inhibit the growth of multiple myeloma cells in laboratory studies. Such results do not always translate into treatments that actually work when it comes to patients (rather than test tubes) with multiple myeloma.

However, I haven't heard before of garlic potentially having an anti-myeloma effect, so I thought I'd share this study.

Reference:

Petrovic, V, et al, "Anti-Cancer Potential of Homemade Fresh Garlic Extract Is Related to Increased Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress," Nutrients, Apr 5, 2018 (full text of article)

Abstract:

The use of garlic and garlic-based extracts has been linked to decreased in­cidence of cancer in epidemiological studies. Here we examine the molecular and cellular activities of a simple homemade ethanol-based garlic extract (GE). We show that GE inhibits growth of several different cancer cells in vitro, as well as cancer growth in vivo in a syngeneic orthotopic breast cancer model. Multiple myeloma cells were found to be especially sensitive to GE. The GE was fractionated using solid-phase extractions, and we identified allicin in one GE fraction; however, growth inhibitory activities were found in several additional fractions. These activities were lost during freeze or vacuum drying, suggesting that the main anti-cancer compounds in GE are volatile. The anti-cancer activity was stable for more than six months in −20 °C. We found that GE enhanced the activities of chemotherapeutics, as well as MAPK and PI3K inhibitors. Furthermore, GE affected hundreds of proteins involved in cellular signalling, including changes in vital cell signalling cascades regulating proliferation, apoptosis, and the cellular redox balance. Our data indicate that the reduced proliferation of the cancer cells treated by GE is at least partly mediated by increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress.