Inhibition of tumor growth with possible immunity by Egyptian garlic extracts.

Garlic bulbs (Allium sativum) were extracted with distilled water or ethanol. The extracts were then incubated with Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells at 37 degrees C for 1 h. These pretreated cells were injected into swiss albino mice which survived over 12 weeks. To the contrary, tumor cells which were pretreated with garlic extracts, produced ascites tumor in all mice that died 2 or 4 weeks after intraperitoneal injection. When mice were treated twice at intervals of 7 days with freshly prepared tumor cells exposed to watery or ethanolic extracts of fresh garlic, they acquired resistance against a challenge with Ehrlich ascites tumor cells. Administration of garlic extracts to mice for at least 2 weeks before tumor transplantation, caused a slight delay of 10-20 days in tumor growth and animal death. Generally, the ethanolic extract of garlic gave more pronounced effect as tumor inhibitor as well as immunity induction than watery extract. No change in serum electrophoretic pattern was detected in mice, whether the tumor cells injected were incubated or not with garlic extract. In animals treated with unincubated tumor cells, albumin and globulin percentages as well as albumin: globulin ratios (A/G) were decreased as compared to normal mice. A/G ratio was also decreased in immunized mice, pretreated with garlic extract, due to the increase of gamma globulin and unchanging of albumin.