The term "pyroptosis" was originally introduced to describe a particular form of cell death in macrophages, which is induced by bacterial infection, is accompanied by caspase-1 activation and hence leads to the release of pyrogenic interleukins; however, it is still controversial whether pyroptosis - which can also be triggered by non-bacterial pathological stimuli - truly represents a cell death modality on its own or whether it constitutes a special case of apoptosis or necrosis.