Viable acinar cells were isolated from normal rat pancreas as well as from pancreata pretreated in situ by a short-term ischemia without and with reperfusion, induction of a pancreatic juice edema, and acute pancreatitis (AP), respectively. The isolated cells were incubated at 37 degrees C in an oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer lacking any nutrient. As an analog to in vivo acinar cell necrosis, the decline of the isolated cells was followed up in vitro. During the first 5-6 h of incubation, the percentage of damaged cells increased only slightly. A second phase of about 30 min followed, during which nearly all residual cells died. The mean half-life (t50) of the cells in all experimental groups ran to about 330 min, with the exception of the AP group (t50 = 132 min). The importance of an intact energy metabolism to prevent premature cell killing was underlined indirectly by the diminished t50 (about 120 min in all groups) of the cells exposed to excess 2,4-dinitrophenol, an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation. The results suggest that experimental AP induced by a combination of biliary-pancreatic duct obstruction, stimulation of pancreatic secretion, and short-term pancreatic ischemia with subsequent reperfusion finds a reflection within the acinar cells themselves and that these effects are not clouded by the isolation procedure. Thus, the application of acinar cells isolated from pancreatic glands pretreated in situ may offer a new tool for pathophysiological research into AP at the cellular level.