Effects of allyl sulfides on the growth of predominant gut anaerobes

At a small supplied concentration (3–5 mM), diallyl disulfide (DADS) and diallyl monosulfide (DAMS), compounds previously shown to have both tumoricidal and protective effects against carcinogenesis, affected the growth of components of the normal anaerobic gut microflora. Organisms that were affected by DAMS and DADS includedBacteroides ruminicola, Bacteroides succinogenes, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Ruminococcus albus, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, Ruminococcus bromii, andPeptostreptococcus productus. Organisms found unaffected, over the same supplied concentration range, includedBacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides vulgatus, Fusobacterium necrophorum, Fusobacterium nucleatum, andSelenomonas ruminantium. In addition to their direct effects upon host cell physiology, the active components of garlic oil may exert modifying effects on the nature and function of the predominant gut microflora of warm-blooded animals.