Introduction

Garlic is widely used as a culinary spice or as a therapeutic agent against various diseases［1］.The health benefits of garlic are attributed to organosulfur compounds(OSCs).Alliin is the main biologically active compound and forms a complex with allinase in raw garlic.After crushing or cooking，alliin decomposes into S-allylcysteine(SAC)，diallyl disulfide(DADS)，diallyl trisulfide(DATS)，dithiins and ajoene［2］.Diallyl tetrasulfide(DTS)，which was recently discovered，is a metabolite of allicin［3，4］.All of these OSCs have immunomodulatory effects via regulating cytokine secretion，immunoglobulin production，phagocytosis and macrophage activation［5］.They also modulate the development of cancinogenesis and immune responses by inducing apoptosis［5- 7］.

Autophagy is a conserved process that regulates cell death to maintain cell homeostasis and energetic balance［8］.During autophagy，a two-layer membrane engulfs aggregated proteins and damaged organelles，which are then transported to the lysosome for degradation.So far，more than 40 autophagy-related genes have been identified and the molecular mechanism of autophagy has been characterized.Autophagy can be divided into the following processes：(1)decrease in mTOR activity and enhancement of AMP-activated protein kinase activity；(2)formation of the ATG1 complex prompting the formation of autophagosome precursors；(3)formation of the vacuolar protein sorting 34 complex，which mediates autophagic membrane extension；and(4)ubiquitinlike system mediated by ATG5 and ATG7，which activates extension and maturity of the autophagy membrane［9，10］.Autophagy plays a complex role in both cell death and survival［8，11］.For example，knocking down ATG7 or Beclin1 expression in L929 cell line leads to autophagic programmed cell death by Caspase-8［12］.There are some reports that autophagy has a prosurvival function in endoplasmic reticulum stress，development，microbial infection，cancers，neurodegenerative diseases，chronic inflammation disease and maintaining lymphocyte homeostasis［8，13- 15］.(https://www.daowen.com)

It has been reported that DADSinduces autophagy and apoptosis in myeloid leukemia cell lines［16］.The aim of this study was to evaluate the mechanism of OSC-mediated cell death via autophagy and apoptosis in the macrophage cell line RAW 264.7.Our findings suggest that SAC，DADS and DTS treatments protect RAW 264.7 against apoptosis by inducing autophagy.