Cytotoxic effects of geranyl flavonoid derivatives from the fruit of Artocarpus communis in SK-Hep-1 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Breadfruit (Artocarpus communis) is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions as a traditional starch crop. This study investigated the cytotoxic activity of geranyl flavonoid derivatives isolated from the fruit of A. communis. Two new geranyl flavonoid derivatives, arcommunol A and arcommunol B, together with four known compounds, were isolated from the fruit of A. communis. The effects of these compounds on the viability of HepG2, Hep3B, PLC5 and SK-Hep-1 cells were investigated. Arcommunol A showed the highest inhibitory activity with 2.05 μM IC50 in SK-Hep-1 cells. Treatment with arcommunol A changed the ratio of expression levels of pro- and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members and subsequently induced the activation of apoptosis-inducing factor, apoptotic protease activating factor-1, caspase-9 and caspase-3, which may result in a cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. These findings provide critical information regarding the chemopreventive potential of arcommunol A from the fruit of A. communis.