Fatty acid synthase inhibitors of phenolic constituents isolated from Garcinia mangostana.

Natural inhibitors of fatty acid synthase (FAS) are emerging as potential therapeutic agents to treat cancer and obesity. The bioassay-guided chemical investigation of the hulls of Garcinia mangostana led to the isolation of 13 phenolic compounds (1-13) mainly including xanthone and benzophenone, in which compounds 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 were isolated from this plant for the first time and compound 9 was a new natural product. These isolates possess strong inhibitory activity of FAS with the IC(50) values ranging from 1.24 to 91.07 μM. The study indicates that two types of natural products, xanthones and benzophenones, could be considered as promising FAS inhibitors.