RESUMO
Effects of potential sulfane sulfur precursors (diallyl disulfide, cystamine, 2-mercaptoethanol disulfide, thiosulfate, immunothiole and pyridoxal phosphate jointly with cystine) on [3H]-thymidine incorporation in human hepatoma (HepG2) cells were studied. Of the tested compounds, diallyl disulfide, cystamine and 2-mercaptoethanol disulfide were found to cause significant inhibition of HepG2 cells proliferation. Moreover, pyridoxal phosphate jointly with cystine suppressed [3H]-thymidine incorporation, but the differences between that system and control cells were insignificant. In the case of thiosulfate, no significant difference was observed. The present study shows that diallyl disulfide, found in garlic, is effective in inhibiting [3H]-thymidine incorporation in human hepatoma HepG2 cell cultures. Similar antiproliferative effects on HepG2 cells are shown by such systems being a source of sulfane sulfur as cystamine or 2-mercaptoethanol disulfide. Thus, it may be concluded that these donors of reactive sulfane sulfur may be responsible for inhibition of the proliferation of HepG2 cells. It is suggested that the observed antiproliferative properties of the investigated compounds are connected with the presence of the highly reactive sulfane sulfur.
