Allistatin

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Allistatin

Allistatin (or Allistatine) is a natural antibiotic

Antibiotic

In common usage, an antibiotic is a substance or compound that kills or inhibits the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics belong to the group of antimicrobial compounds used to treat infections caused by microorganisms, including fungus and protozoa....
, found naturally in garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
and in onion

Onion

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
, generally in plants of the Allium

Allium

Allium is the onion genus, with about 1250 species, making it one of the largest plant genera in the world. They are perennial plant bulbous plants that produce chemical compounds that give them a characteristic onion or garlic taste and odor, and many are used as food plants....
group. It is recognized as being a strong broad-spectrum fungicide

Fungicide

Fungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungus or fungal spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of Crop yield, quality and profit....
and antibiotic against numerous serious microorganism

Microorganism

A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is microscopic . The study of microorganisms is called microbiology, a subject that began with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in 1675, using a microscope of his own design....
s (bacteria

Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
, etc). The name "allistatin" refers to two very similar recognized compounds, allistatin I and II.

Studies have established that the most active factors in garlic, including allistatin I and allistatin II, are sulphur-containing compounds which are powerful agents against staphylococcus

Staphylococcus

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Allistatin (or Allistatine) is a natural antibiotic

Antibiotic

Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
and in onion

Onion

Allium

Fungicide

Microorganism

Bacteria

Staphylococcus

Staphylococcus is a genus of Gram-positive Bacterium. Under the microscope they appear round , and form in grape-like clusters.The Staphylococcus genus include just thirty-three species....
and Escherichia coli (E. coli), very common bacteria which can cause most annoying infections (under certain conditions can end up serious or even fatal). For this reason, in Russia and other countries, garlic is routinely and extensively used to treat numerous infections but also diseases such as whooping cough, grippe and a whole host of infectious diseases of viral

Virus

A virus is a Optical microscope#Limitations of light microscopes infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell . Viruses infect all cellular life....
and bacterial origin.

Most antibiotics tend to become less and less effective overtime, due to the bacteriae developing the so-called "resistance

Drug resistance

Drug resistance is the reduction in effectiveness of a drug in curing a disease or improving a patient's symptoms. When the drug is not intended to kill or inhibit a pathogen, then the term is equivalent to dosage failure or drug tolerance....
". This is not the case with allistatin I,II and the rest of the anti-bacterial compounds contained in garlic.

Apart from allistatin, garlic has dozens of other substances (including vitamin

Vitamin

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. A compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be biosynthesis in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet....
s, minerals, etc), but allistatin I,II, alliin

Alliin

Alliin is a sulfoxide that is a natural constituent of fresh garlic. It is a derivative of the amino acid cysteine. When fresh garlic is chopped or crushed, the enzyme alliinase converts alliin into allicin which is primarily responsible for the aroma of fresh garlic....
, allicin

Allicin

Allicin is an organic compound obtained from garlic. It is also obtainable from onions, and other species in the family Alliaceae. It was first isolated and studied in the laboratory by Chester J....
, garlicin and ajoine are the strongest antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, immune-enhancing and anti-platelet

Platelet

Platelets, or Thrombocyte, are small, irregularly shaped anuclear cells, 2-4?m in diameter, which are derived from fragmentation of precursor megakaryocytes....
compounds found in large quantities in garlic. In fact, studies have shown that these substances have antibiotic potency stronger than many commercial antibiotics, but without toxicity.

Research in Japan, the US and Germany has shown that this plant has amazing antibiotic activity and clinical trials have proven that it is able to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It is also an expectorant, thus making it useful in treating chest infections, colds, flus and ear infections. It is also useful in treating digestive infections, getting rid of intestinal parasites, preventing circulatory problems and strokes (by keeping the blood thin) and also preventing late-onset diabetes by reducing blood sugar levels. It can be taken in parallel with antibiotics to help in their action and prevent side-effects of the latter.

Allistatin

See also