Medicina Alternativa e Integrativa

Effects of Mangosteen Pericarp Extracts Against Mammary Cancer

Abstract

Masa-Aki Shibata, Yoshinobu Matoba, Hideki Tosa and Munekazu Iinuma

The pericarp of the mangosteen fruit, Garcinia mangostana Linn, has a long history of use as a medicinal plant in Southeast Asia. The actions of mangosteen extracts have been scientifically supported and it has become a popular natural health-promoting dietary supplement. Mangosteen extracts, particularly α-mangostin, induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway, cell cycle arrest by p21cip1 induction and Akt dephsophorylation in mammary cancer cells; these anti-proliferative effects are associated in vivo with suppression of tumor growth and metastasis in mouse mammary cancer models. Such preclinical evidence suggests that mangosteen extracts have potential chemotherapeutic and/or chemopreventive uses