Abstract:
Alpha-mangostin (AM) is in the xanthone group and a main compound extracted from mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn.). It is effective in antioxidant, antimicrobe and anticancer activities. However, the underlying side effects on normal cells, especially in hematopoiesis have not been investigated completely. In this research, it was aimed to elucidate the possible effects of AM on hematopoiesis using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos as a representative model. The results showed that AM could cause the zebrafish embryonic mortality with the concentration dependent manner. The median lethal concentration (LC50) of AM at 72 h was 5.75 ± 0.26 µM. In addition, AM induced a zebrafish embryonic malformation such as pericardial edema, tail malformation, body malformation and blood clotting. Furthermore, the hemoglobin level in a zebrafish embryo’s cardiac region was decreased significantly by AM. In addition, at the transcriptional level, AM increased the gene expression of spi1b, mpx and hbae1.1 which were representatives of hematopoietic related genes significantly. On the other hand, AM had no effect on the expression of those genes at the translational level. Although it has been widely reported that AM has many bioactivities, in this research, it revealed the side effects of AM at the concentration higher than 3 µM on the early stage of zebrafish embryonic development and the toxicity on the hematopoietic system.
