Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) protects liver graft function following ischemia in liver transplantation and liver resection. The aim of this study was to assess the advantages and any potential disadvantages of liver IPC prior to isolation for rat hepatocytes during isolation and cryopreservation. After isolating and thawing the cryopreserved hepatocytes after 14 and 28 d, cell viability, efficiency, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in preserve solution were examined for every group. Groups treated with IPC had better cell viability determination, assessment of plating efficiency and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay than Group without IPC, suggesting that IPC prior to isolation may have a significant protective effect on hepatocytes subjected to isolation and short period cryopreservation.