Endotoxin, a lipopolysaccharide (0.4 or 0.8 ng/kg body weight), was injected at 1900 hours in 17 healthy men in a single-blind, placebo-controlled experiment. The administration was followed by a 4-hour period of quiet wakefulness in bed (light intensity < 200 lux). Unlimited sleep was allowed after 2300 hours (lights off) until the next morning. The electroencephalogram (EEG), electromyogram, electrooculogram, electrocardiogram and rectal temperature were recorded throughout the experimental session. Standard sleep stages were assessed, and the EEG was submitted to a state-specific, serial spectral analysis. Endotoxin administration induced a rise of body temperature and heart rate, which started approximately 2 hours after the injection and persisted through most of the sleep period. Sleep latency remained unchanged, whereas rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency increased from 60.3 to 89.0 minutes (paired t test; p = 0.06) compared to control values. Stage 2 sleep was elevated from 45.5 to 49.0% of time in bed (p < 0.05), and total nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep from 64.2 to 69.1% (p < 0.05). No significant change could be observed in slow-wave sleep (SWS, stages 3 and 4). During the first 4 hours of the sleep period, NREM sleep EEG spectral power was distinctly and markedly increased between 8 and 12 Hz (alpha) and 15 and 20 Hz (beta) (p < 0.05), whereas at the same time EEG power between 1 and 8 Hz (delta, theta) was not significantly changed. We conclude that in humans the primary host response induced by endotoxin initially suppresses REM sleep and increases stage 2 NREM sleep, but does not affect SWS. No clear modification of sleep EEG delta activity could be observed after endotoxin injection, despite marked endocrinological and physiological changes such as the elevation of body temperature. Numerous factors related to the human primary host response may be responsible for the EEG intensification of the alpha and beta range.