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Updated: Feb 8, 2026

Cytotoxicity Assays with Zebrafish Cell Lines
Published on: January 6, 2023
Indospicine cytotoxicity and transport in human cell lines
Saira Sultan1, Simone A Osborne2, Rama Addepalli2
1Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, PO Box 156 Archerfield, QLD 4108, Australia; CSIRO Agriculture and Food, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia.
Abstract:
Indospicine, a non-proteinogenic analogue of arginine, occurs only in Indigofera plant species and accumulates in the tissues of animals grazing on Indigofera. Canine deaths have resulted from the consumption of indospicine-contaminated meat but only limited information is available regarding indospicine toxicity in humans. In this study three human cell lines, Caco-2 (colorectal adenocarcinoma), HT29-MTX-E12 (colorectal adenocarcinoma) and HepG2 (hepatocellular carcinoma), were used to investigate the cytotoxicity of indospicine and its metabolite 2-aminopimelic acid in comparison to arginine. Indospicine and 2-aminopimelic acid were more cytotoxic than arginine, displaying the highest toxicity in HepG2 liver cells. Intestinal transport in vitro also revealed a 2-fold higher transport rate of indospicine compared to arginine. The sensitivity of HepG2 cells to indospicine is consistent with observed canine hepatotoxicity, and considering the higher in vitro transport of indospicine across an intestinal barrier, it is possible that similar ill effects could be seen in humans consuming contaminated meat.
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