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Tagitinin C, a major sesquiterpenoid, was isolated from the leaves of Tithonia diversifolia. The high morbidity and mortality rate of hepatoma in Taiwan motivated our interest in the investigation of tagitinin C's mechanism against the human hepatocellular carcinoma. The methanolic extract of leaves of T. diversifolia (TDM) and tagitinin C were found to have cytotoxic activities against human hepatoma Hep-G2 cells in the MTT assay with IC(50) values of 40.0 ± 2.0 and 2.0 ± 0.1 μg/mL, respectively. This compound induced population increase in the sub-G(1) phase and S phase arrest. Treatment with tagitinin C isolated from TDM resulted in activation of both caspase 3 and caspase 8 which suggested that the antiproliferative effect of this compound was caspase-dependent apoptosis. Magnetic resonance techniques indicated that the tumorigenisity of xenografts derived from Hep-G2 cells was retarded by the delivery of tagitinin C (15 μg/mouse/day) relative to the control counterparts.

Minoxidil and finasteride have been approved to treat hair loss by the Food and Drug Administration. However, the further elucidation of treatments for hair loss, including those using Chinese herbal medicine, remains important clinically. BeauTop (BT) is a health food supplement which contains Ginseng radix, Astragali radix, Radix Angelicae sinensis, Ligustri fructus, Rehmannia glutinosa and Eclipta prostrata (Linn). Susbsequent to oral administration of BT at 0.6 g/kg/day to wax/rosin‑induced alopecia in C57BL/6 mice, BT significantly induced hair growth at day 8 compared with control treatment (P<0.05). The expression levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF), and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)‑7 were increased compared with control animals on day 8. In contrast, levels of FGF‑5 of the BT group were reduced compared with the control on day 12. There were no effects on the expression of insulin‑like growth factor 1. The results demonstrated that the mechanism of BT improving alopecia is potentially associated with modulation of EGF and FGF‑7 levels. Taken together, it is suggested that BT may have a potential effect of the promotion of hair growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]