The Preventive and Curative Effects of Fresh Garlic Extract And its Aerial Parts on Fibrosarcoma in Balb/c Mice

Garlic has been demonstrated to have anticancer activity in some studies; however its effect on fibrosarcoma is not evident. This study intends to examine the preventive and curative effects of fresh garlic extract and its aerial parts on the growth of WEHI-164 fibrosarcoma cells in Balb/c mice.

In this preclinical study, 48 female inbred Balb/c mice(6 to 7 weeks old) were divided in to 6 groups of 8 each. A single aliquot of WEHI-164 cells(5 × 106 cells/100 μl) was injected subcutaneously in the chest of animal. Two weeks before or three weeks after cell injection, 0.2 cc of normal saline or 20 mg/kg extract of garlic or its aerial parts were injected intraperitoneally(IP) to the Balb/c mice. The tumors sizes were compared with each other, using ANOVA test. The antioxidant potential and total phenolic compounds of the extracts were also assessed.

The mean sizes of tumor growth in groups which received fresh garlic extract or its aerial parts were smaller than that of control group. However this difference was significant on the 21st day only in garlic extract group(p<0.05). The antioxidant power of fresh garlic involved 35.6%, whereas for its aerial parts it was 15.3%. Moreover, the general amount of phenol in fresh garlic was 12.61 mg/g and in its aerial parts was 2.44 mg/g.

Garlic consumption might have a crucial role in prevention and control of fibrosarcoma growth. Furthermore, the phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of garlic aerial parts are less in comparison to garlic itself, however, higher doses might have anticancer activity