Acteoside, a phenylpropanoid glycoside with anti-oxidative activity, induced cell death in promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells with an IC₅₀ value of 26.7μM. Analysis of extracted DNA on agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that aceteoside induced the internucleosomal breakdown of chromatin DNA characteristic of apoptosis.Apoptosis-specific DNA fragmentation was clearly detectable 4h after treatment with acteoside and was indepedent of the cell cycle phase. These data indicate that acteoside induces apoptosis in HL-60 cells.