This study was performed to investigate the effects of dietary protein content on recovery of laparotomized rats in terms of urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine, . Fortyeigh male Sprague Dawley rats average-weighing 160g were divided into two diet groups ; LPD(10% low protein diet) group HPD(25% high protein diet) group After 3 days of adaptation period rats were given experimental diet for 14 days. Experimental period consists of 7-days pre-trauma and 7-days post-trauma period. Rats were laparotomized by 4cm abdominal incision under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia. During 7-days before and after the surgery urine and plasma were collected for the analysis of epinephrine and norepine-phrine. The results are as follows: 1) After laparotomy urinary epinephrine level was not increased in two diet groups. Urinary epinephrine concentration of rats in LPD group was considerably increased in post-trauma day 3 and thereafter gradually reduced. By post-trauma day 4 however urinary epinephrine concentration of rats in HPD groups was recovered to pre-trauma level 2) Urinary norepinephrine concentration of rats in LPD group was significantly increased after trauma(p<0.01) and the difference between LPD and HPD in post-trauma average norepinephrine concentration was not significant. 3) Post-traum average plasma epinephrine concentration was higher but not significant than that of pre-truma average in both groups [LPD(19.88ng/ml vs 20.93ng/ml) HPD(17.20ng/ml vs 19.37ng/ml)] 4) Plasma norepinephrine concentration of rats in LPD group was significantly increased in post-trauma period(p<0.01) In HPD group however post-trauma average plasma norepi-nephrine concentration was significantly lower than pre-trauma average. Thus the results suggest that norepinehrine concentration was affected by trauma and rats in HPD group excreted less amount of norepinephrine than rats in LPD group.