Hi FD!
1) Allicin needs to be delivered directly to the parasitic organism?
It would be more accurate to say it needs to ARRIVE at the parasite somehow.
2) The digestive process virtually eliminates the Allicin so that direct feeding is ineffective except for random traces that may enter the fish tissue and bloodstream before it reaches the gut. Does this mean my daily personal garlic pill does little but to give me bad breath?
Digestive juices seek to PREVENT new formation of allicin, and sometimes fail to do a thorough job. But if pre-formed allicin (in the mouth as you chew?) enters the gut, it seems free to dance any gut-parasites to death. From the gut it may enter the bloodstream.
The minute allicin comes in contact with your blood, it rapidly gets spent wrecking your hemoglobin. No biggie if you're over a 100lbs in weight with healthy bone marrow and several pints of non-anemic blood in you, --it's just a waste of allicin. But other benefits of garlic (lowering BP, etc.) can also stem from byproducts of allicin and other more durable garlic compounds, so you get some of those no matter what the blood does. The blunt skippy is that only garlic's
antibiotic prowess is largely lost once its active ingredients enter the bloodstream, because the lead actor is lost (the supporting cast is not without talent, though).
3) Direct application to the water column is effective but could be harmful to the beneficial micro-organisms in the tank.
Half right. The water severely dilutes the good stuff --I was just saying that it might seem to be analogous to the topical application most research recommends. Of course those researchers weren't thinking about topical applications underwater. If the dosage is too weak, dilution renders it wasted --but if it is strong enough to withsatnd dilution, your good aquarium bacteria can take a serious hit.
4) Use of natural fresh-squeezed garlic is preferable to garlic oil.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
5) Quantification of dosage would be difficult and correct amount of dosage is uncertain.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
It would be sooooooo easy for someone with lab access and funding to find the lethal concentration of allicin vs.
Cryptocaryon iiritans. It's the first tentative step towards finding a dosage against ich.
6) Would it be preferable to treat the fish in a Q-Tank with garlic in the water column to avoid potential damage to the tank ecosystem?
That approach is possible. Keep in mind that both feeding and TreatmentTank-ing both expose certain parts of the fish to potential damage if you overdose (the liver for feeding and the gills for TreatmentTank-ing). If its mostly a surface malady like ich, you can TreatmentTank the fish. If it's internal, then you definitely feed. If it's just preventative therapy, then
feed --no need to stress the beast by fishing it out each time, haha. Just getting the fish into a treatment tank can be more stress (to both you and the fish)than its worth.
7) How about application of full strength juice from freshly-crushed garlic to the fish's exterior, either in a small container or directly applying to the fish out of water?
For a surface malady, THAT would be best.
Precise targeting, and direct delivery.
Bu-uuut... if therapy has to be over several days, taking the fish out just once is a pain. Taking it out several times?
8) Does the fish's slime coat retard or prevent absorption of the garlic into the fish's tissues? I would assume the slime coat is absent or diminished on the symptomatically affected areas of the fish.
The mucus would pose no great difficulty to allicin. Other beneficial components of garlic may be less able to traverse mucus or indeed any other similar barriers. Also, traumatized areas actually encourage increased local mucus production to compensate for damage to the skin.
9) Is the Allicin able to penetrate the C. irritans in the cystic stage?
There is every indication (based on the tissue models used by Miron et.al.) that it is able to. The fact that the 'cyst' often jumps ship shows just how peeved it gets.
10) Is the name "Alice" an etymological derivative of "Allicin"?
You must be living in some kind of allicin wonderland
Hehe,
horge
[This message has been edited by horge (edited 12-29-2000).]
