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Artocarpus communis is an agricultural plant that is also used in folk medicine to prevent skin diseases, including acne and dermatitis. Extracts of A. communis have been used to effectively inhibit melanogenesis; however, the antimelanogenesis mechanism of these extracts has not yet been investigated. The present study utilized a cell-free tyrosinase assay as well as α-melanocyte stimulating hormone- (-MSH-) induced tyrosinase assay conducted in B16F10 cells, performed a cytotoxicity assay, and determined cellular melanin content to examine the effects of a methanolic extract of A. communis (ACM) and various organic partition fractions of A. communis on melanogenesis. In addition, we performed western blot analysis to elucidate the mechanism of their antimelanogenesis effect. Our results indicated that, except for the n-hexane extract, ACM and the various partition extracts at noncytotoxic concentrations effectively decreased melanin content and tyrosinase activity by downregulating microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) and phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein (p-CREB). Moreover, ACM and the partition fractions activated phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) to inhibit the synthesis of MITF and finally to decrease melanin production. In conclusion, we suggest that noncytotoxic concentrations of ACM and the various partition fractions may be useful as references for developing skin-lighting agents for use in medicines or cosmetics.

Extracts from natural plants have been used in traditional medicine for many centuries worldwide. Artocarpus communis is one such plant that has been used to treat liver cirrhosis, hypertension, and diabetes. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the antihepatoma activity of A. communis toward HepG2 and PLC/PRF/5 cells and the first to explore the relationship between antihepatoma activity and the active compound artocarpin content in different fractions of A. communis. A. communis methanol extract and fractions induced dose-dependent reduction of tumor cell viability. DNA laddering analysis revealed that A. communis extract and fractions did not induce apoptosis in HepG2 and PLC/PRF/5 cells. Instead, acridine orange staining revealed that A. communis triggered autophagic cell death in a dose-dependent manner. The antihepatoma activity of A. communis is attributable to artocarpin. The fractions with the highest artocarpin content were also the fractions with the highest antihepatoma activity in the following order: dichloromethane fraction > methanol extract > ethyl acetate fraction > n-butanol fraction > n-hexane fraction. Taken together, A. communis showed antihepatoma activity through autophagic cell death. The effect was related to artocarpin content. Artocarpin could be considered an indicator of the anticancer potential of A. communis extract.

Phyla nodiflora is a creeping perennial herb, widely distributed in the most tropical and subtropical regions. It has been used as a folk medicine, herbal beverage, or folk cosmetic. For these usages, the development of a chemical quality control method of this plant is necessary. In the present study, ten compounds, namely, 3,7,4',5'-tetrahydroxy-3'-methoxyflavone (1), nodifloretin (2), 4'-hydroxywogonin (3), onopordin (4), cirsiliol (5), 5,7,8,4'-tetrahydroxy-3'-methoxyflavone (6), eupafolin (7), hispidulin (8), larycitrin (9), and β-sitosterol were isolated from the methanolic extract of the aerial part of P. nodiflora (PNM) and their structures were identified by 1D-NMR comparing their spectra with the literature. The antioxidant activities of these compounds were evaluated by free radical scavenging activity and tyrosinase inhibitory effect in cell-free systems. Compounds 4, 5, and 7 showed strong antioxidant activity. To control the quality of P. nodiflora, a simple and reliable method of high-performance liquid chromatography combined with ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV) was established for both the fingerprint analysis and the quantitative determination of two selected active compounds, onopordin (4) and eupafolin (7). Statistical analysis of the obtained data demonstrated that our method achieved the desired linearity, precision, and accuracy. The results indicated that the developed method can be used as a quality evaluation method for PNM.