〔Abstract〕 Objective To preliminary study on the regulation of interleukin(IL)-18 in the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α), IL-6, and IL-8 in vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMC) mechanism. Methods VSMCs were treated with different concentrations of IL-18( 3,10,30,100 ng/ml),and at different times,TNF-α,IL-6,IL-6,TNF-α,IL-6,Expression of IL-8 m RNA level; ELISA method to analyze the protein level expression of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-8; block p38 and AKT signal pathways with specific inhibitors,and analyze the activation of these two signal pathways by Western blot and its effect on the expression of TNF-α,IL-6 and IL-8 proteins. Results IL-18 at different concentrations could increase the expression of TNF-α,IL-6,IL-8 m RNA in VSMC,showing a dose-dependent effect. Il-18( 30 ng/ml) increased m RNA and protein levels of the three cytokines in a time-dependent manner. Western blot results showed that IL-18 can activate p38 and AKT; analysis of specific blockers found that IL-18 regulates the expression of TNF-α,IL-6,and IL-8 in part dependent on the activation of p38 and AKT signal pathways. Conclusion IL-18 partly relies on the activation of p38 and AKT signaling pathways to increase the expression of TNF-α,IL-6 and IL-8 in VSMC.