Issues

It has been long known that garlic has medicinal properties and may even reduce the risk of developing certain cancers including those of the gastrointestinal tract. The chemopreventive effects of garlic may be attributed to the anti-inflammatory properties of garlic's sulfur-containing constituents which include diallyl disulfide (DADS). When colorectal cancer cells were treated with DADS, NFkB nuclear localization and activity were diminished. Interestingly, this effect of DADS on NFkB suppression was found to be dependent on DADS inhibition of GSK-3β, a positive regulator of NFkB. The figure shown on the cover is the soft agar plate (100 mm) in which SW480 colon cancer cells were pre-treated with DADS (5 μM) plus GSK-3β activator LY294002 (10 μM) for 24 hrs. This simultaneous treatment with DADS (5 μM) and LY294002 (10 μM) abolished anti-tumorigenic effects of DADS, which suggests that this garlic component inactivates NFkB by largely inhibiting GSK-3β. See article by Saud and colleagues (beginning on page 607) for more information.