The role of calcium in the production of oxygen radical which causes reperfusion damage of ischemic heart has been examined. The reperfusion damage was indrced in isolated Langendorff perfused rat hearts by aortic clamping for 60 min followed by reperfusion with oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit solution with or without 1.25 mM $CaCl_2.$ On reperfusion of the ischemic hearts with the calcium containing solution, the release of cytosolic enzymes (LDH and CPK) increased abruptly. These increased release of enzymes were significantly inhibited by additions of oxygen radical scavengers (SOD, 5,000 U; catalase, 12,500 U) into the reperfusion solution. In the hearts isolated from rats pretreated with allopurinol(20 mg/kg orally, 24 hr and 2 hr prior to the experiments), the levels of enzymes being released during reperfusion were significantly lower than that of the control. However, in the hearts perfused with the calcium-free but oxygenated solution, the increase in the release of cytosolic enzymes during reperfusion was neither inhibited by oxygen radical scavengers nor by allopurinol pretreatment. For providing the evidence of oxygen radical generation during the reperfusion of ischemic hearts in situ, the SOD-inhibitable reduction of exogenously administered ferricytochrome C was measured. In the hearts perfused with the calcium containing solution, the SOD-inhibitable ferricytochrome C reduction increased within the first minute of reperfusion, and was almost completely inhibited by allopurinol pretreatment. When the heart was perfused with the calcium free solution, however, the reduction of ferricytochrome C was not only less than that in the calcium containing condition, but also was not so completely inhibited by allopurinol pretreatment. By ischemia, xanthine oxidase (XOD) in the ventricular tissue was changed qualitatively, but not quantitatively. In the heart made ischemic with the calcium containing condition, the oxygen radical producing O-form of XOD increased, while the D- and D/O-form decreased. However, in the ischemic heart reperfused with the calcium free condition, the D/O-form of XOD was elevated without significant increase in O-form of the enzyme. It is suggested from these results that the calclum may play a contributing role in the genesis of reperfusion damage by promoting the conversion of xanthine oxidase from the D/O-form to the oxygen radical producing O-form in the ischemic myocardium.