Anisodamine (654-2) administered intra-enterically for 30-min without reaching the systemic circulation before hemorrhage significantly prevented the accumulation of the lysosomal hydrolase cathepsin D in the plasma during hemorrhagic hypotension and postoligemic period and at the same time significantly attenuated the progression of hemorrhagic shock in cats. Since plasma cathepsin D is derived chiefly from liver and small intestine during hemorrhagic shock, the above results implicate that anisodamine exerts protective effects on intestinal mucosal cells, most probably, through stabilization of its lysosomes from releasing enzymes during splanchnic ischemia.