Accidental inhalation of selenium (Se) derivatives, such as dimethyl selenide (DMSe), has been associated with damage of respiratory tissues. However, systemic effects of inhaled Se have not been thoroughly established. We have investigated whether mouse kidney and liver show cellular pathology as a result of a single intratracheal instillation of two different doses of DMSe (0.05 and 0.1 mg Se/kg BW). The animals were sacrificed 1, 7, 14, and 28 days after either 1 of the 2 DMSe treatments; samples were studied by light microscopy. Instillation of the low DMSe dose resulted in acute and transient tubular disease of the kidney expressed by swelling and vacuolation of epithelial cells of proximal tubules; in some mice, tubular necrosis was observed. After 14 days of the DMSe treatment, these lesions were ameliorated and, by day 28, the kidney tubular epithelium depicted a normal morphology. The same low dose of DMSe caused sustained damage to centrilobular hepatocytes characterized by swollen and vacuolized liver cells. After the instillation of the high DMSe dose, the mice presented sustained liver and kidney focal necrosis. Our data suggest that inhalation of DMSe results in: (i) acute tubular injury of the kidney and damage to centrilobular liver cells and (ii) this systemic pathology induced by DMSe is a dose-dependent phenomenon.