mangiferin and mangiferin-containing leaf extract from mangifera foetida l for therapeutic attenuation of experimentally induced iron overload in a rat model

Introduction: thalassemia is a hereditary anemia usually treated with regular blood transfusions, which can result in elevated levels of total iron in the body. as soon as the capacity of iron-regulating proteins (e.g., ferritin, transferrin) are used up, free plasma iron increases generating reactive oxygen species (ros), leading to oxidative stress. hence, blood transfusions should be accompanied by iron-chelating therapy, e.g., deferiprone (dfp). the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of mangiferin (m) and an aqueous leaf extract of mangifera foetida l (emf) as alternative iron-chelating antioxidants in an animal model. methods: thirty male sprague dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 equal groups: normal control, iron overload (io), io+dfp, io+m, and io+emf. iron overload was induced by intraperitoneal iron dextran injection with a total dose of 90 mg/mouse (15 mg fe/mouse every 3-4 days for 3 weeks) followed by oral administration of dfp 462.5 mg/kg, mangiferin 75 mg/kg, or emf 2.930 g/kg for 7 days. results: body weight (bw) increased in all groups during the 4 weeks of experiment, except for the io group. as expected, dfp decreased significantly the total plasma iron and increased iron excretion via urine in iron-overloaded rats (positive control), mangiferin and emf had similar – although slightly smaller – effects than dfp. the antioxidant activity of m and emf were stronger compared to dfp as determined by plasma superoxide dismutase (sod) activity. conclusion: mangiferin and emf have iron-chelating and antioxidant effects and might be used for the treatment of iron overload in the body.