In the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis, the events and mechanisms increasing the digestibility of the pancreatic acinar cells are widely unknown. Therefore, the possible contribution of a disturbed energy supply (provoked by anoxia or partial uncoupling) to the induction of autodigestion was studied in experiments on acinar cells isolated from the pancreas. During incubation viability, respiration under normal and maximally stimulated conditions, and trypsin-inhibiting capacity (TIC) of these cells were determined. With increasing duration of anoxia, the portion of surviving cells was strongly diminished, and the number of cells with blebs and vesicularly transformed endoplasmic reticulum was increased. Although the endogenous respiration was not influenced up to 1.5 h of anoxia, 30 min of anoxia substantially decreased the capacity of oxidative energy production. The survival curves were characterized by a self-accelerating course of cell destruction. The alteration of the cellular energy metabolism found its reflection in the decreased TIC of the cells.