Table I.
Effects of allicin on free cholesterol and cholesterol esters in in THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells.
| Group | TC | FC | CE | CE/TC (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | 152.32±11.54 | 98.73±7.29 | 55.57±5.61 | 36.48 |
| Model group | 513.75±31.46a | 186.48±21.16a | 327.23±23.12a | 63.69a |
| Allicin (5 g/l) | 176.98±20.56b | 91.18±25.62b | 85.92±24.39b | 48.54b |
THP-1 macrophage-derived foam cells were divided into 3 groups and cultured at 37°C in medium containing 5 g/l allicin for 12 h. Cellular cholesterol and CE were extracted, as described in the Materials and methods. HPLC was performed to determine the levels of cellular TC, FC and CE. Results are expressed as the means ± SD of 3 independent experiments performed in triplicate.
P<0.05 is used in the comparison with the control group;
P<0.05 is used in the comparison with the model group. TC, total cholesterol; FC, free cholesterol; CE, cholesterol ester; HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography. Data are the means ± SD, n=3. Cholesterol levels are in mg/g.