KARACHI, Nov 25 (APP): Scientists at an international symposium on Tuesday highlighted the health benefits of garlic, stating that aged garlic extract offers protection against various disease processes.
They noted that garlic possesses several beneficial properties and has been reported to exhibit hepatoprotective, anticarcinogenic, and antioxidant activities. They also pointed out that tumors can change over time and may differ from one area of the body to another.
Prof. Dr. Nessar Ahmed from the UK delivered the first lecture of the day at the 9th International Symposium-Cum-Training Course on Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (MMDR), held at the Prof. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui Auditorium and organized by the Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), University of Karachi.
Around 600 scientists, including 42 international participants, are attending the global conference.
In his lecture, Prof. Ahmed explained that aged garlic extract is produced by aging raw garlic for 20 months to create an odorless, palatable extract rich in antioxidants.
He said that aged garlic extract protects against various disease processes. He added that his laboratory has demonstrated the antiglycation and antioxidant properties of aged garlic extract, including its ability to protect against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.
He said aged garlic extract deserves more scientific attention, as it may have therapeutic potential in reducing advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) in diabetic patients and in protecting cancer patients from doxorubicin-induced heart damage.
In his lecture, Dr. Ikram Burney said that tumors differ from one location to another and may change over time. This, he explained, makes large or repeated biopsies challenging for both patients and doctors.
Prof. Dr. Luciana Dini stated that glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is extremely difficult to treat due to its fast growth and the limited number of available treatment options.
Prof. Dr. Zhen-Feng Chen highlighted that alkaloids—active components of traditional Chinese medicine—possess a wide range of biological activities. He added that a new approach involves combining a potent natural product with a hypoglycemic drug to help treat tumor patients who also have diabetes.