The effect of CsA on hypoxia-reoxygenation injury was studied in perfused rat livers. CsA did not attenuate hypoxic injury, as assessed by the release of lactate dehydrogenase and mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase. During reoxygenation, the release of lactate dehydrogenase was also not affected by CsA. However, the release of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase into the cytosol, which indicates mitochondrial injury, was significantly reduced by CsA. The effect of CsA on mitochondrial function during hypoxia-reoxygenation was also investigated. CsA administration increased both the respiratory control ratio and the adenine nucleotide content after reoxygenation in both isolated mitochondria and perfused livers. In addition, glucose production by perfused livers after reoxygenation was increased by CsA. We conclude that the beneficial effect of CsA on hypoxia-reoxygenation injury may be partly due to protection of the mitochondria against reoxygenation injury.