Therefore, the data suggest that andrographolide may not be genotoxic at the doses tested. It is possible for other differences in cellular properties apart from P450 activity such as levels of intracellular glutathione and cell cycle kinetics, to have contributed to the effects observed.
In conclusion, this is the first study with the aim to characterize the toxicity of andrographolide and it was demonstrated that this phytocompound elicited weak induction of micronuclei which were within the background values, hence andrographolide may not be genotoxic at the concentrations tested in vitro. Cell death was primarily via necrosis in a dose-dependent manner whereas the highest frequency of apoptotic response was observed to be at 30 and 50 lM of andrographolide, possibly due to the increased presence of micronuclei in both AHH-1 and MCL-5 cells respectively.