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The present studies determined the influence of dietary supplements of garlic powder (0, 1, 2 or 4%) on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary tumors and on the in vivo occurrence of mammary DMBA-DNA adducts in rats. Diets were offered 2 weeks before and 2 weeks following DMBA treatment (25 mg/kg body wt). An additional group was fed the 2% garlic powder diet throughout the 20 week study. Although food intake and weight gain were not influenced, dietary garlic powder supplementation did significantly delay the onset of first tumors (P < 0.01) and did reduce the final mammary tumor incidence (P < 0.01). Consumption of garlic powder also significantly depressed the in vivo binding of DMBA to mammary cell DNA. Binding of both anti- and syn-dihydrodiol epoxides to DNA was depressed in rats fed supplemental garlic powder. The activity of glutathione S-transferase (GST) in mammary and liver tissue from rats fed 2% dietary garlic powder was higher than observed in tissues from rats fed the basal diet. No further increase in GST activity occurred when the dietary garlic content was increased from 2 to 4%. Final mammary tumor incidence was found to correlate positively with total DMBA-DNA binding and the quantities of individual DMBA-DNA adducts. The present studies demonstrate that garlic powder is effective in inhibiting DMBA-induced mammary tumors, possibly by reducing DMBA-DNA binding.

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The present studies examined the impact of a processed garlic powder on the in vivo occurrence of DNA adducts caused by N-nitroso compounds (NOC) in rats. Addition of 2% garlic powder to diets containing aminopyrine and sodium nitrite (each at 600 mg/kg) reduced the occurrence of both 7-N-methyldeoxyguanosine (7-N-mG) and 6-O-methyldeoxyguanosine (6-O-mG) adducts to rat liver DNA by approximately 55%; and over 80% when 4% garlic was provided. Dietary supplementation with garlic powder (2 and 4%) also reduced the occurrence of 7-N-mG and 6-O-mG adducts by approximately 40 and 60% respectively, in rats intubated with N-nitrosodimethylamine (150 mg/kg body wt). The quantity of 7-N-mG and 6-O-mG adducts in mammary tissue of rats given intravenous N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (50 mg/kg body wt) was reduced over 50% in rats fed 2% garlic compared to controls. The depression in the occurrence of these adducts was approximately 70% when dietary garlic was increased to 4%. These experiments suggest the reduction in DNA adducts caused by processed garlic powder likely reflects a depression in the formation of NOC from precursors and changes in the bioactivation and/or denitrosation of NOC.