Background: To investigate the preventive and therapeutic potential of garlic oil on human pancreaticcarcinoma cells. Methods: The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay wasperformed to study the effects of garlic oil on three human pancreatic cancer cell lines, AsPC-1, Mia PaCa-2and PANC-1. Cell cycle progression and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry (FCM), staining with PIand annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)/propidium iodide (PI), respectively. Morphologic changesof pancreatic cancer cells were observed under transmission electron microscopy (TEM) after treatment withgarlic oil at low inhibitory concentrations (2.5 μM and 10 μM) for 24 hours. Results: Proliferation of the AsPC-1,PANC-1, and Mia PaCa-2 cells was obviously inhibited in the first 24 hours with the MTT assay. The inhibitioneffect was more significant after 48 hours. When cells were exposed to garlic oil at higher concentrations, anearly change of the apoptotic tendency was detected by FCM and TEM. Conclusion: Garlic oil could inhibitthe proliferation of AsPC-1, PANC-1, and Mia PaCa-2 cells in this study. Moreover, due to programmed celldeath, cell cycle arrest, or both, pro-apoptosis effects on AsPC-1 cells were induced by garlic oil in a dose andtime dependent manner in vitro.
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