Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of allicin on oxidative stress and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT-4) expression induced by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in skeletal muscle tissue of mice.Methods Fifty mice were randomly divided into a control group,a PCBs exposure group,and three PCBs+allicin exposure groups (30,40,and 60 mg/kg).At the end of 30 days' treatment,the morphology of skeletal muscle tissue was obsereved;the content of maleic dialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD),catalase (CAT),and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in skeletal muscle tissue were detected;and the expression of GLUT-4 was also measured with immunohistochemistry.Results Compared with the control group,the disordered arrangement,cell swelling,and disappearance of cell stripes were observed in skeletal muscle tissue of PCBs exposure group;the contents of MDA increased obviously (19.15±2.73 and 22.19±3.72 nmol/mg prot in gracilis and triceps,both P<0.05);and the activities of the T-SOD,GSH-Px,and CAT decreased significantly (110.11±15.55,48.55±7.49,and 5.01±1.79 U/mg prot in gracilis,102.32±16.80,45.42±10.73,and 5.43±1.12 U/mg prot in triceps;all P<0.05).Compared with the PCBs exposure group,the contents of MDA obviously decreased in skeletal muscle tissue of the mice with PCBs+40 mg/kg allicin exposure (12.17±2.18 and 13.00±2.18 nmol/mg prot in gracilis and triceps,both P<0.05) and the activities of the T-SOD,GSH-Px,and CAT significantly increased (145.80±18.41,59.16±11.18,and 7.27±2.16 U/mg prot in gracilis,158.58±5.02,75.40±5.03,ans 8.35±0.86 U/mg prot in triceps;all P<0.05).Compared with the control group,the expression of GLUT-4 decreased in the PCBs exposure group,but obviously increased in the PCBs+allicin exposure group.Conclusion Allicin has antagonistic effect on the expression of GLUT-4 in cytoplasm of skeletal muscle cells through its anti-oxidation in mice.