HOW DOES GARLIC EXERT ITS HYPOCHOLESTEROLEMIC ACTION - THE TELLURIUM HYPOTHESIS

The efficacy of garlic as a lipid-lowering agent is being increasingly recognized, but the biochemical mechanisms underlying this action are currently unknown. it is proposed that organic tellurium compounds, w hich are found in high concentration in fresh garlic buds, may contrib ute to this action by inhibiting squalene epoxidase, the penultimate e nzyme in the synthetic pathway of cholesterol. Weanling rats fed a die t rich in tellurium develop a demyelinating polyneuropathy due to inhi bition of this enzyme in peripheral nerves. Chronic exposure to small amounts of tellurium found in garlic might reduce endogenous cholester ol production through inhibition of hepatic squalene epoxidase and so reduce cholesterol revels. Tellurium may also contribute to the charac teristic odour of garlic since the most obvious clinical sign of tellu rium poisoning is a garlic-like odour.