The involvement of apoptosis was evaluated in lesions of endotoxemic piglets. A single injection with E. coli O111:B4 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced foci of coagulative necrosis in the liver and kidneys. No significant change was observed in these organs at 1.5 hr after LPS injection, but at 6 hr, epithelial cells with chromatin condensation or fragmentation and apoptotic bodies were visible. Foci of coagulative necrosis were formed within 24 hr after LPS inoculation. In and adjacent to the necrotic foci, dead hepatocytes with nuclear condensation or fragmentation were scattered. These dead cells were positively stained by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) methods. Electronmicroscopy revealed apoptotic cells with condensed or fragmented homogeneous nuclear chromatin, and necrotic cells with irregularly destroyed nuclei and cytoplasmic membranes. Apoptotic cell death were also observed in parietal cells of the stomach and lymphocytes in the lymphatic system. DNA ladders with approximately 200-bp multimers were observed in hepatic, renal and thymic samples prepared after 6 and 24 hr of LPS injection by agarose gel electrophoresis. These results suggest that apoptosis is involved in the pathology of swine endotoxemia.