Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with arachidonic acid (AA). After 24 h exposure to AA, typical morphological changes of apoptosis were observed by Giemsa stain and transmission electron microscopy. The apoptotic ratio in HUVECs treated with 50 μmol/L, 100 μmol/L and 150 μmol/L AA were (20.7±3.6) %, (38.6±4.3) % and (52.5±7.5) % respectively. Contrarily, low concentration of AA (≤25 μmol/L) exerted no influence on cell viability by MTT assay. Intracellular malondialdehyde increased significantly in a dose-dependent manner upon AA treatment and the opposite tendency was found for the reduced glutathione. Western Blots show that apoptosis triggered by AA was associated with the down-regulation of Bcl-2 expression, but not with Bax and p53. Pretreatment with 50 μmol/L α-tocopherol reduced AA-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis, also inhibited the down-regulation of Bcl-2/Bax ratio. These results suggested that high concentration of free AA could induce apoptosis in HUVECs probably via oxidative stress and down-regulation of Bcl-2.