Pyroptosis – a cell death modality of its kind?

Abstract 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.