Allicin protects against HO-induced apoptosis of PC12 cells via the mitochondrial pathway.

Allicin is a major bioactive ingredient of garlic and has a broad range of biological activities. Allicin has been reported to protect against cell apoptosis induced by HO in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The present study evaluated the neuroprotective effect of allicin on the HO-induced apoptosis of rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells and explored the underlying mechanism involved. PC12 cells were incubated with increasing concentrations of allicin and the toxic effect of allicin was measured by MTT assay. The cells were pretreated for 24 h with low dose (L-), medium dose (M-) and high dose (H-) of allicin, followed by exposure to 200 µM HO for 2 h, and the cell viability was examined by MTT assay. In addition, cell apoptosis rate was analyzed by Annexin V-FITC/PI assay, while intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial transmembrane potential (∆ψm) were measured by flow cytometry. Bcl-2, Bax, cleaved-caspase-3 and cytochrome (Cyt C) in the mitochondria were also examined by western blotting. The results demonstrated that 0.01 µg/ml (L-allicin), 0.1 µg/ml (M-allicin) and 1 µg/ml (H-allicin) were non-toxic doses of allicin. Furthermore, HO reduced cell viability, promoted cell apoptosis, induced ROS production and decreased ∆ψm. However, allicin treatment reversed the effect of HO in a dose-dependent manner. It was also observed that HO exposure significantly decreased Bcl-2 and mitochondrial Cyt C, while it increased Bax and cleaved-caspase-3, which were attenuated by allicin pretreatment. The results revealed that allicin protected PC12 cells from HO-induced cell apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway, suggesting the potential neuroprotective effect of allicin against neurological diseases.