Alleviation by garlic of antitumor drug-induced damage to the intestine

Antitumour drugs such as methotrexate (MTX) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) induc e intestinal damage. This is a serious side effect of cancer chemotherapy. The present studies examined whether or not aged garlic extract (AGE) prote cts against damage from these antitumor drugs. Both drugs were administered orally for 4 or 5 d to rats fed a standard laboratory diet with and withou t 2% AGE. The small intestinal absorption of the poorly absorbable compound , fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextran (FD-4; average molecular weigh t, 4400) was used to evaluate the damage to the intestine using the in vitr o everted intestine technique and the in situ intestinal loop technique. FD -4 absorption increased in the antitumour drug-treated rats fed the diet wi thout garlic. Interestingly, FD-4 absorption was depressed in rats fed the diet containing AGE. These results suggest that AGE may protect the small i ntestine of rats from antitumour drug-induced damage.