Effects of garlic compounds diallyl sulfide and diallyl disulfide on arylamine N-acetyltransferase activity in strains of Helicobacter pylori from peptic ulcer patients

Arylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activities with p-aminobenzoic acid (PA BA) and 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) were determined in the bacterium Helicobacte r pylori collected from peptic ulcer patients. Two assay systems were perfo rmed, one with cellular cytosols, the other with intact cell suspensions. C ytosols or suspensions of H, pylori with or without specific concentrations of diallyl sulfide (DAS) or diallyl disulfide (DADS) co-treatment showed d ifferent percentages of 2-AF and PABA acetylation. The data indicated that there was decreased NAT activity associated with increased levels of DAS or DADS in H. pylori cytosols and suspensions. Viability studies on H. pylori demonstrated that DAS or DADS elicited dose-dependent bactericide affects on H. pylori cultures. The data also indicated that DAS and DADS decreased the apparent values of Km and Vmax of NAT enzyme from H. pylori in both sys tems examined, This report is the first demonstration that garlic component s can affect H. pylori growth and NAT activity.