Peritonitis in rats was produced by cecal ligation and puncture. Sixteen hours following cecal ligation and puncture, the gangrenous cecum was removed and the animals received either 4 ml saline (nontreated), 0.75 ATP-MgCl2 (100 mumoles ATP plus 50 mumoles MgCl2), and 2.0 ml of 50% glucose or 2.0 ml of 50% mannitol and 1.25 ml saline. Two hours after the removal of the cecum, RES function was evaluated by measuring the intravascular clearance of a 131 I triolein-labeled gelatinized test lipid emulsion. The intravascular half-time (t1/2) in the nontreated animals was double that of sham-operated animals, suggesting that significant depression in RES function occurred during sepsis. Administration of ATP-MgCl2 plus glucose following sepsis resulted in t1/2 values similar to those of sham-operated animals, indicating that the impairment of pagocytic activity of the RES was reversed with treatment. The beneficial effect of treatment following sepsis does not appear to be due to hypertonicity, since administration of 50% mannitol failed to decrease the t1/2. The precise mechanism of the beneficial effect of ATP-MgCl2 + glucose on restoration of RES function is not known.