In the present study, we showed that asiatic acid, a natural triterpenoid, exerted a unique immunosuppressive action in hepatitis by increasing the release of cytochrome c form mitochondrion to cytosol, then subsequently enhancing intrinsic apoptotic pathways in Con A-activated T cells, showing a distinct mechanism from the aforementioned small compounds. The gene discussed is CYCS; the disease is hepatitis A virus infection.