Diallyl sulfide inhibits diethylstilbestrol induced DNA damage in human breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A)

• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women in the United States.
• DES-induced DNA strand breaks and lipid peroxidation were reduced in MCF10-A cells by DAS treatment.
• Breast epithelial cell viability was increased with DAS treatment.
• DAS attenuates cell viability, DNA damage, and lipid peroxidation in MCF10-A cells.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women in the United States. Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic estrogen that has been shown to cause cancer in animals and humans, altering cell viability as well as inducing DNA damage. Diallyl sulfide (DAS) is a garlic organosulfide that has been shown to inhibit both the initiation and promotion phases of cancer in vivo and in vitro, as well as reduce the risk of cancer in epidemiological studies. MCF-10A cells, regarded as a normal breast epithelial cell line, were treated with varying concentrations of DES, DAS or various dose combinations of DES and DAS concomitantly, and assessed for cell viability, DNA strand breaks, and lipid peroxidation. DES (10 μM) in combination with 1, 10, or 100 μM DAS resulted in a 31%, 34%, or 36% respective increase in cell viability compared to the DES treatment alone, after 24 h. At the same time point, 1, 10, and 100 μM DAS were all effective in significantly reducing DES (100 μM)-induced strand breaks to near that of the vehicle control. Additionally, 1 μM DAS was effective in significantly reducing DES (100 μM)-induced lipid peroxidation after 3 h. The results of this research suggest that DAS is effective in recovering cell viability, attenuating DNA strand breaks, and decreasing lipid peroxidation in MCF-10A cells.

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