This prospective animal study was designed to investigate the changes of plasma endothelin (ET) levels in acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP). Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly devided into 3 groups: acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) group in which ANP was induced by infusion of 5% sodium taurocholate (STC) into biliopancreatic duct, sham operation (SO) group and platelet activating factor antagonist BN50739 (BN) group. Blood levels of ET and platelet activating factor (PAF) were detected. Pancreatic microcirculatory blood flow was measured and pancreatic histological scores were evaluated. Results showed that the pancreatic microcirculatory blood flow in ANP group was decreased to a great extent immediatly after induction of ANP and soon began to rise slowly for 3 hours and again decreased steadily after that. The blood levels of ET, PAF and histological scores in ANP group were significantly higher than those in SO group. In BN group, the blood flow was significantly improved and the levels of blood ET, PAF and histological scores were all significantly lower as compared to those in ANP group. It is concluded that ischemia/ reperfusion is present in the initiation of acute necrotizing pancreatitis induced by STC in the rat. This leads to injuries of endothelial cells and increase in the production of ET and PAF. I/R lesions,and interaction of ET and PAF lead to a vicious circle, thus augmenting the pathological changes in the pancreas.