This study aimed to test the hypothesis that acute normovolemic anemia with a hematocrit of 10 or 15% could induce the activation of the neuronal mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway by evaluating different cellular events involved in hypoxia-induced apoptosis and analyzing some key proteins such as Bax, Bcl-x, caspase 3 and 9, and the presence of endonucleolytic DNA fragmentation, a hallmark of apoptosis, in a porcine model of acute anemia. The gene discussed is BAX; the disease is anemia (phenotype).