Viral inhibitory assays typically report the Selectivity Index (SI), defined as the ratio of the cytotoxicity (CC50) to the inhibitory concentration (IC50). A SI < 1 means that the ligand's cytotoxicity to cells occurs at a lower concentration than its inhibition of the target. Selectivity indices of 5 or greater are preferred. Ligand candidates suffering from lower selectivity indices may be excluded from further investigation. However, the deglucuronidation-through-inflammation mechanism would suggest that dismissing polyphenol ligands with a low selectivity index could be overly conservative. Given that most polyphenols circulate in plasma as glucuronides, and are only deglucuronidated to their aglycone form locally to the site of inflammation, a low selectivity index may be acceptable and even preferable. This of course will depend on how efficiently the deglucuronidation process discriminates between the localities of healthy and infected cells that induce the inflammatory process.