Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is the most serious type of pancreatitis with high morbidity and mortality. The underlying mechanism behind SAP pathogenesis is complex and remains elusive. In the present study, next-generation RNA sequencing was utilized to identify circRNA transcripts in the pancreatic tissues from three SAP mice and three matched normal tissues. Our results discovered that 56 circRNAs were differently expressed in SAP compared with normal control. Our findings may provide novel insights for pathophysiological mechanism of SAP and offer novel targets for SAP. Overall design: exploring the circRNA profile