Common Names: Benzoaric acid, eleagic acid, elagostasine, gallogen. 

Suggested Properties:
 Ellagic acid has antioxidant, anti-mutagen and anti-cancer properties. Studies have shown the anti-cancer activity on cancer cells of the breast, oesophagus, skin, colon, prostate and pancreas. More specifically, ellagic acid prevents the destruction of P53 gene by cancer cells. Ellagic acid can bind with cancer causing molecules, thereby making them inactive. In their studie The effects of dietary ellagic acid on rat hepatic and esophageal mucosal cytochromes P450 and phase II enzymes. Ellagic acid causes a decrease in total hepatic mucosal cytochromes and an increase in some hepatic phase II enzyme activities, thereby enhancing the ability of the target tissues to detoxify the reactive intermediates. Ellagic acid showed also a chemoprotective effect against various chemically induced cancers. 
Ellagic acid has also antiviral and antibacterial activities. 

Mechanism action of Ellagic acid works on tumor growth.
Ellagic acid is a natural phenolic constituent. Recent in vitro and in vivo experiments have revealed that Ellagic acid elicits anticarcinogenic effects by inhibiting tumor cell proliferation, breaking DNA binding to carcinogens, blocking virus infection, disturbing inflammation, inducing apoptosis and angiogenesis, and drug-resistance processes required for tumor growth and metastasis. Ellagic acid decreases the percentage of viable cells and induced apoptosis also increased ROS formation, mitochondria swelling, MMP decrease, and cytochrome c release in mitochondria isolated from CLL B-lymphocytes. Ellagic acid can act as an anticancer candidate by directly and selectively targeting mitochondria that could induce apoptosis through the mitochondria pathway with increasing ROS production, which finally ends in cytochrome c release, caspase 3 activation, and apoptosis in cancerous B-lymphocytes isolated from CLL patients.

Health Benefits of Ellagic Acid

CANCER
Studies have shown that ellagic acid is able to cause apoptosis (cell death) in cancer cells. Some 
also claim that it can prevent the binding of carcinogens to DNA, and strengthens connective tissue, which may keep cancer cells from spreading.
Some studies demonstrate that ellagic acid is able to reduce heart disease, birth defects, liver fibrosis, and to promote wound healing.

Antiangiogenic properties
The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptors play essential roles in angiogenesis and inhibition of these receptors has been shown to result in potent anti-tumor activity in vivo. Labrecque L et al reported that ellagic acid inhibits VEGF-induced phosphorylation of VEGFR-2 in endothelial cell as well as PDGF-induced 
phosphorylation of PDGFR in smooth muscle cells. 

Bladder Cancer
Researchers, China Medical University, Taiwan, induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in T24 human bladder cancer cells in vitro using ellagic acid. 

Breast Cancer
Researchers at Louisiana State University demonstrated that ellagic acid expressed a selective cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative activity, and induced apoptosis in Caco-2 colon, MCF-7 breast, Hs 578T breast, and DU 145 human prostate cancer cells. It was also observed that the mechanism of apoptosis induction in ellagic acid-treated cancer cells was associated with decreased ATP production, which is crucial for the viability of cancer cells. 

Esophagus
de Boer JG et al, University of Victoria, Canada, showed the mutation preventive properties of ellagic acid against the mutagenicity of the nitrosamine N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA) in the esophagus of the rat. 

Prostate Cancer
Lansky EP et al, Rimonest Ltd, Israel showed the anti-tumor activities of ellagic acid against human PC-3 prostate cancer cells in vitro.Researchers at Louisiana State University demonstrated that ellagic acid expressed a selective cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative activity, and induced 
apoptosis in Caco-2 colon, MCF-7 breast, Hs 578T breast, and DU 145 human prostate cancer cells. It was also observed that the mechanism of apoptosis induction in ellagic acid-treated cancer cells was associated with decreased ATP production, which is crucial for the viability of cancer cells.

Anti-microbial Activity
Lu HF, Cheng Hsin Rehabilitation Medical Center, Taiwan, demonstrated that ellagic acid was able to elicit dose-dependent bacteriostatic activity and inhibition of N-acetylation of 2-aminofluorene (AF). 

Precautions:
Ellagic Acid is considered generally safe, with no known side effects. 

Dosage:
The dose of the ellagic acid was arranged (50 mg/kg/day orally)