Previous studies have demonstrated inhibitory effect of garlic component diallyl trisulfide (DATS) on growth of breast cancer cellsin vitro and in vivo. This study investigated the effect of DATS on oncogenic signaling regulated by leptin, which plays an importantrole in breast carcinogenesis. Leptin-induced phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of STAT3 was inhibited significantly in thepresence of DATS in MCF-7 (a luminal-type human breast cancer cell line) and MDA-MB-231 (a basal-like human breast cancer cellline). Leptin-stimulated cell proliferation, clonogenic cell survival, and migration and/or invasion ability in MCF-7 and/or MDA-MB-231cells were also suppressed by DATS treatment. DATS exposure resulted in inhibition of leptin-stimulated expression of protein and/or mRNA levels of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Cyclin D1, vascular endothelial growth factor, and matrix metalloproteinase-2. Western blotting revealeda decrease in protein levels of phosphorylated STAT3 in breast cancer xenografts from DATS-treated mice when comparedto controls in vivo. However, the incidence of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced luminal-type breast cancer development in rats wasnot affected by oral administration of 5 mg/kg or 25 mg/kg DATS. The present study reveals that oncogenic signaling induced byleptin is inhibited in the presence of DATS but higher doses of this phytochemical may be required to achieve chemopreventive activity.

PURPOSE: Diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) poses serious challenges. A careful selection of appropriate gene targets is essential for designing a multiplex-polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) assay. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared several gene targets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, including IS6110, devR, and genes encoding MPB-64 (mpb64), 38kDa (pstS1), 65kDa (hsp65), 30kDa (fbpB), ESAT-6 (esat6), and CFP-10 (cfp10) proteins, using PCR assays on 105 EPTB specimens. From these data, we chose the two best gene targets to design an M-PCR. RESULTS: Among all gene targets tested, mpb64 showed the highest sensitivity (84% in confirmed cases and 77.5% in clinically suspected cases), followed by IS6110, hsp65, 38kDa, 30kDa, esat6, cfp10, and devR. We used mpb64+IS6110 for designing an M-PCR assay. Our M-PCR assay demonstrated a high sensitivity of 96% in confirmed EPTB cases and 88.75% in clinically suspected EPTB cases with a high specificity of 100%, taking clinical diagnosis as the gold standard. CONCLUSION: These M-PCR results along with the clinical findings may facilitate an early diagnosis of EPTB patients and clinical management of disease.
Bacteriological Techniques/methods ; DNA Transposable Elements/genetics ; DNA, Bacterial/analysis/genetics ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Gene Amplification ; Humans ; Male ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods/standards ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tuberculosis/*diagnosis