We have examined whether or not ciclosporin A (CsA) affects structure and function of the exocrine pancreas. Male Wistar rats were treated once a day for 7 days with intraperitoneal injections of vehicle or 5, 15, 30, or 50 mg/kg of CsA. Following the CsA treatment, incorporations of [3H]thymidine into DNA and [3H]orotic acid into RNA were found to be significantly reduced in a dose-dependent manner up to 30 and 15 mg/kg, respectively, at which doses the incorporations reached a plateau. The incorporation of [3H]-L-leucine into protein also decreased by 36% at the dose of 5 and by 53% at the dose of 50 mg/kg of CsA. The activities of amylase and lipase in the pancreas also decreased in the CsA-treated rats. Furthermore, a significant reduction in the specific binding of [3H]N-methylscopolamine to muscarinic receptor was observed following the administration of CsA. The Scatchard analysis for the [3H]N-methylscopolamine binding to the pancreatic membrane revealed a significant decrease in Bmax, but not in Kd values in the CsA-treated animals. In addition, it was found histologically that administration of CsA induced cellular atrophy, cytoplasmic vacuolization, and cellular necrosis in the exocrine pancreas. These results strongly suggest that prolonged treatment with CsA may induce the suppression of pancreatic exocrine functions by decreasing the contents of amylase and lipase as well as the number of muscarinic receptors, possibly by the inhibition of the syntheses of protein and DNA in the exocrine pancreas.