Abstract： Objective To explore the value of DWI ADC in the diagnosis of hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) at 3.0 T and investigate the mechanism by comparison with liver enzyme and pathological findings. Methods Forty-two New Zealand white rabbits were divided randomly into ( n ＝ 6,each) six IRI groups by rank sum test. The IRI animals underwent left lobar ischemia for 60 min and were reperfused 0. 5 h, 2. 0 h, 6. 0 h, 12. 0 h, 24. 0 h and 48. 0 h later. One Sham operative group underwent laparotomy without liver ischemia. T2 WI, T1 WI, DWI and contrast-enhanced T, WI were performed with 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging scanner in each group respectively. For DWI, b-values of 20, 50, 100,200,300,400,500 and 600 s/mm2 were used respectively. Blood samples were taken to detect the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) at different time points. Liver samples were examined histologically after MRI scanning. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine differences, followed by LSD-t test for multiple comparisons. Results Overall, ADC decreased markedly at the early IRI phase ( 0. 5 h), drastically increased in the 2.0 h group, and then ascended slightly from 6. 0 h to 48.0 h after reperfusion, except for a transient decrease at the time point of 24. 0 h. When b values were 20, 50, 100,200 and 300 s/mm2, the ADC values in the Sham group were (3.47 ±0.53) × 10-3, (3.11 ±0.39) ×10-3, (2.87 ±0.19) ×10-3, (2.56 ±0.37) × 10-3 and (1.95 ±0.33) ×10-3mm2/s, (2.63±0.31)±10-3, (2.47±0.32) ×10-3, (2.12±0.38) ×10-3, (2.01±0.51) ×10-3and (1.61 ±0.17) ×10-3mm2/s in the 0.5 h group, (2.72 ±0.09) ×10-3, (2.51±0. 11) ×10-3, (2.28 ±0.30) ± 10-3, (1.96 ±0. 14) × 10-3 and (1.58 ±0. 17) × 10-3mm2/s in the 24.0 h group, respectively. ADC of 0. 5 h and 24. 0 h groups were significantly lower than that of Sham group (P＜0.05) when b value was under 300 mm2/s. In the Sham, 0.5 h, 2.0 h, 6.0 h, 12.0 h,24.0 h and 48. 0 h IRI groups, they were (80±8), (181 ±34), (413 ±62), (474 ±83), (424 ±41 ),(332 ±41 )and(302 ±39) U/L for the levels of ALT,and (79 ± 10), (454 ±55), (547 ±72), (607±31 ), (649 ±79), (785 ±49) and ( 1526 ± 167) U/L for the AST respectively. The levels of AST and ALT in IRI groups were significantly higher than those in the Sham group ( P ＜ 0. 01 ). Histological findings showed diffuse hepatocytes swelling and erythrocytes depositing in the hepatic sinusoids, portal area, central venous and arterials at the initial phase. With the injury aggravated, inflammatory cell infiltration,hepatocyte nuclear condensation of apoptosis, sinusoidal dissociation and coagulation necrosis developed eventually. Conclusion 3.0 T DWI can monitor the pathological process of rabbit liver ischemia reperfusion injury dynamically, and provides a feasible imaging modality for clinical diagnosis and treatment.