Mangiferin is a naturally occurring
polyphenol, widely distributed in Thymeraceae families, and presents pharmacological activity, including anti-
cancer activities in many human
cancer cell lines.
Mangiferin has also been reported to affect immune responses; however, no available information concerning the effects of
mangiferin on immune reactions in
leukemia mice in vivo. In the present study, we investigated the effects of
mangiferin on
leukemia WEHI-3 cell generated
leukemia BLAB/c mice. Overall, the experiments were divided into two parts, one part was immune responses experiment and the other was the survival rate experiment. The immune responses and survival rate study, 40 mice for each part, were randomly separated into five groups (N = 8): Group I was normal animals and groups II-V WEHI-3 cell generated
leukemia mice. Group II mice were fed normal diet as a positive control; group III, IV, and V mice received
mangiferin at 40, 80, and 120 mg/kg, respectively, by
intraperitoneal injection every 2 days for 20 days. Leukocytes cell population, macrophage phagocytosis, and NK cell activities were analyzed by flow cytometry. Isolated splenocytes stimulated with
lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and
concanavalin A (Con A) were used to determine the proliferation of B and T cells, respectively, and subsequently were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results indicated that
mangiferin significantly increased
body weight, decreased the liver and spleen weights of
leukemia mice.
Mangiferin also increased CD3 T-cell and CD19 B cell population but decreased
Mac-3 macrophage and CD11b monocyte. Furthermore,
mangiferin decreased phagocytosis of macrophages from PBMC and peritoneal cavity at 40, 80, and 120 mg/kg treatment. However, it also increased NK cell activity at 40 and 120 mg/kg treatment. There were no effects on T and B cell proliferation at three examined doses. In survival rate studies,
mangiferin significantly elevated survival rate at 40 and 120 mg/kg treatment of
leukemia mice in vivo.