Decreased plasma amino acid concentrations and increased net release of amino acids from skeletal muscle, especially for glutamine, are common features in critically ill patients. A low dose of endotoxin administered to healthy volunteers was used as a human model for the initial phase of sepsis to study the early metabolic response to sepsis. Six healthy male volunteers were studied in the postabsorptive state. Blood samples from the forearm artery and femoral vein were taken during 4 h before and 4 h after an intravenous endotoxin injection (4 ng/kg body wt). In addition, muscle biopsies from the leg muscle were taken. Plasma concentration of the total sum of amino acids decreased by 19% (P = 0.001) and of glutamine by 25% (P = 0.004) the 3rd h after endotoxin administration. At the same time, muscle concentrations of the sum of amino acids and glutamine decreased by 11% (P = 0.05) and 9% (P = 0.09), respectively. In parallel, the efflux from the leg increased by 35% (P = 0.004) for the total sum of amino acids and by 43% (P = 0.05) for glutamine. In conclusion, intravenous endotoxin administration to healthy volunteers, used as a model for the initial phase of sepsis, resulted in a decrease in plasma amino acid concentrations. At the same time, amino acid concentrations in muscle tissue decreased, whereas the efflux of amino acids from leg skeletal muscle increased.