Objective To investigate the influence of VEGF expression on the apoptosis of pancreas subjected to ischemia/reperfu-sion injury. Methods Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups (rt = 10). Group A was served as sham-operation group. Groups B were subjected to 30 min of ischemia by clamping of celiac artery and superior mesenterie artery then releasing for 6 hours to produce ischemia/reperfusion injury model. Groups C were treated with VEGF antisense oligodeexynueleotide after isehemia. Rats were sacrificed, the pancreas was obtained to detect the VEGF expression by immunohistochemical method, and apoptosis was determined by TUNEL staining. Results Apoptosis appeared and VEGF expression up regulated in pancreas after Isehemia/reperfusion injury. Comparison between Groups C and Groups B showed a significant down regulation of VEGF expression (P <0. 05) and a notable increase of apoptotic index (P < 0. 05). Conclusion VEGF expression suppresses apeptosis of pancreas during the course of ischemia/reperfusion injury and may play an important role in protection of pancreas against the ischemia/repeffusion injury.