Abstract. We previously reported that serofendic acid, a lipophilic extract of fetal calf serum, protects against oxidative stress in primary culture of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. However, the effect of serofendic acid on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo is yet to be determined. In the present study, we investigated the effect of intravenous administration of serofendic acid on ischemia-reperfusion injury induced by transient occlusion of the left coronary artery in rats. The rat heart was subjected to 25min ischemia followed by 2h reperfusion. Bolus intravenous administration of serofendic acid (1 -10 mg/kg) given twice reduced the infarct volume in a dose dependent manner. The protective effect of serofendic acid was abolished by pretreatment with 5hydroxydecanoate, a blocker of mitochondrial ATPsensitive potassium channels. For further testing of the protective effect of serofendic acid at the subcellular level, we monitored mitochon drial membrane potential (MMP) in individual cells using realtime twophoton imaging of Langendorffperfused rat heart. A 25min noflow ischemia, followed by reperfusion caused progressive MMP loss. Serofendic acid significantly reduced the number of cells undergoing MMP loss. These results suggest that serofendic acid protected cardiac myocytes against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by preserving the functional integrity of mitochondria.