Mangosteen Health Benefits

A natural compound found in mangosteens could be the answer to provide a new drug in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), according to a study by researchers from National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine).

Researchers found that xanthones, with its anti-oxidant and anti-bacterial properties, could be effective at inhibiting and killing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium responsible for causing TB.

Furthermore, xanthones had a low propensity for developing drug resistance, making it a promising candidate in developing anti-TB drugs, the study added.

The study, which began three years ago and was published in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, was carried out under the Singapore Programme of Research Investigating New Approaches to Treatment of Tuberculosis (SPRINT-TB), a multi-party programme based in Singapore.