Nanosecond time-resolved fluorometry of diphenyl hexatriene, DPH, fluorescence was used to study the effects of lipid peroxidation caused by NADH or adriamycin treatment on the dynamic microstructure of mitochondrial membranes from rat myocardium. Isolated mitochondria were incubated with NADH, FeCl3, and ADP, or with adriamycin. Parameters for microdynamics were calculated from the fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decay curves for DPH fluorescence. Peroxidized lipids were measured as malondialdehyde (MDA) resulting from the thiobarbiturate reaction. As peroxidized lipids accumulated, the membrane viscosity increased and the wobbling angle of the phospholipids decreased. The structural changes induced in unsaturated phospholipids by peroxidation probably increased the friction of neighboring phospholipids and restricted the range of their wobbling motion. The fluorescence intensity and fluorescence lifetimes decreased significantly when MDA was higher than 10 nmol/mg protein. These alterations in the behavior of DPH fluorescence strongly suggest that the hydration of the phospholipid layer of the mitochondria is occurring as a consequence of lipid peroxidation, since the fluorophore, DPH, is hydrophobic and its fluorescence is known to be quenched by increasing the dielectric constant of the surrounding media. The present results provide experimental supports to the hypothesis of membrane hydration induced by lipid peroxidation.