Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury is a serious complication but unavoidable problem in liver surgery including liver transplantation and hepatic resection. The most important consequence of this pathological process is multiple organ failure with a high mortality rate. Steroid therapy suppresses liver injury by a variety of mechanisms, including increased tissue blood flow and suppression of oxygen free radicals, arachidonic acid derivatives, lysosomal proteases (cathepsins) and cytokine production. However, the exact intracellular mechanisms of steroid action on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury remains unknown.