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Background & Objective: Garlic and the organosulfer compound from garlic have antitumor effects, but the mechanisms still remain unclear. This study was to investigate the changes and significance of caspase-3 activity in diallyl trisulfide (DATS)-induced apoptosis of human gastric cancer cell line MGC803., Methods: Effects of DATS on the apoptosis of MGC803 cells and the change of activated caspase-3 were observed under a fluorescent and an electron microscopy, and detected by flow cytometry and Western blot., Results: After incubation with DATS, MGC803 cells showed typical apoptotic morphologic changes, and the apoptosis rate increased significantly. DATS activated caspase-3 in a time-dependent manner: the positive rates of activated caspase-3 were 1.9%, 3.0%, 7.3%, 14.4%, and 27.6% respectively in MGC-803 cells treated with 12 mg/L DATS for 0, 4, 8, 12 and 24 h. When treated with 12 mg/L DATS for 24 h, the apoptosis rate was significantly lower in the cells with pretreatment of Ac-DEVD-CHO (a caspase-3 inhibitor) than in the cells without pretreatment (5.1% vs. 23.0%, P<0.01), indicating that Ac-DEVD-CHO efficiently attenuated DATS-induced apoptosis of MGC803 cells. Moreover, pro-caspase-3 was hydrolyzed and activated in DATS-treated MGC803 cells., Conclusion: DATS induces apoptosis in MGC803 cells which may be through the activation of caspase-3 pathway.

Background & Objective: Diallyl disulfide (DADS) can inhibit growth of various cancer cell lines in vitro, but little is known about its in vivo antitumor effect. This study was designed to investigate effect of DADS on growth of human gastric carcinoma MGC803 cells xenograft in BALB/C nude mice., Methods: MGC803 cells, with or without 1-day treatment of DADS (30 mg/L), were subcutaneously transplanted into the right axial regions of nude mice. The xenograft tumor growth in mice was observed after in vitro treatment or intraperitoneal injection of DADS. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression was detected by Western blot., Results: No xenograft tumor was observed in the nude mice inoculated with DADS-treated MGC803 cells. When injected with 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg of DADS, the inhibition rate of tumor growth in the nude mice inoculated with untreated MGC803 cells were 27.8%, 66.1%, and 73.0%; the expression of PCNA was inhibited., Conclusion: DADS could suppress incidence of human gastric carcinoma xenograft in BALB/C nude mice, and inhibit growth of transplanted tumor.