α-Mangostin from Cratoxylum arborescens: An in vitro and in vivo toxicological evaluation

α-Mangostin (AM) is believed to be beneficial for health due to its versatile biological activities such as antioxidant, antiviral and anticancer properties. In this study, the air-dried stem bark of Cratoxylum arborescens was extracted consecutively with hexane, chloroform and methanol. The hexane extract was chromatographed, fractionated and purified to yield AM. The toxic effects of AM have not been completely investigated; therefore, the current study investigates its in vitro cytotoxicity on WRL-68 normal cells and in vivo effects on renal and hepatic histobiochemical parameters, relative organ weight, lipid profile, peroxidation and reduced glutathione of ICR female and male mice. AM was fed orally at single doses of 0 (as normal group), 100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg body weight. The results showed that AM did not show adverse effects on body weight, organ weight, serum biochemistry, histopathology and oxidative stress biomarkers. On the other hand, this natural compound showed low cytotoxic activities against normal liver cells (WRL-68) with IC50 = 65 μg/ml. To our knowledge, this paper is the first to report the toxicity effects of AM in rodents.