γ-Mangostin and Rubraxanthone, Two Potential Lead Compounds forAnti-cancer Activity against CEM-SS Cell Line

continuing interest on Garcinia and Mesua species has led us to carry out a detail study on thechemistry of the rot bark of Garcinia mangostana (Guttiferae) since this part of the plant has not been investigatedbefore, and the stem bark of Mesua corneri (Guttiferae) an uninvestigated species. This study has yielded sixxanthones, α-mangostin (1), β-mangostin (2), γ-mangostin (3), garcinone-D (4), mangostanol (5) and gartanin (6)from Garcinia mangostana and two xanthones rubraxanthone (7) and inophyllin B (8) from Mesua corneri.Structural elucidations of these compounds were achieved using 1H, 13C NMR and MS data. The crude hexaneand chloroform extracts of the root bark of Garcinia mangostana and the hexane extract of the stem bark ofMesua corneri were found to be active against CEM-SS cell lines with IC50 values less than 30g/ml. Moreover,γ-mangostin gave a very low LC50 g/ml while rubraxanthone gave an LC50 value of 5.0g/mlindicating these two compounds to be potential lead compounds for anti-cancer activity against the CEM-SS cellline. This paper reports the isolation and identification of these compounds as well as bioassay data for the crudeextracts, γ-mangostin and rubraxanthone.Keywordsxanthones, Garcinia mangostana, Mesua corneri, cytotoxic activities, CEM-SS cell lines KCI Citation Count: 1