〔Abstract〕Objective To investigate the effect of curcumin on sevoflurane induced cognitive dysfunction in rats. Methods 32 Wistar rats were randomly divided into a control group (CON group), sevoflurane group (SEV group), low curcumin group (CUR-L group) and high curcumin group (CUR-H group), with 8 cases in each group. Rats in CUR-L and CUE-H groups received 200 mg·kg-1 and 300 mg·kg-1 curcumin intragastric treatment for 6 days respectively, and then the rats in SEV, CUR-L and CUE– H groups were all treated with 3.3% sevoflurane for 6 h. Morris water maze was used to test the learning and memory ability of rats. The morphology of hippocampus was observed by Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining; The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in hippocampus tissue of rats were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). TUNEL assay was used to detect the apoptosis of hippocampal cells. Western-blot was used to detect the expressions of apoptosis related proteins in hippocampus. Results Compared with the CON group, the escape latency of rats in SEV group was increased, the number of crossing platform was decreased (P< 0.05), the levels of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and MDA in hippocampus were increased, the activities of SOD and GSH-Px were decreased (P < 0.05), and the apoptosis rate and the expression level of Bcl-2 protein in hippocampus were increased, the expression level of Bax protein was decreased (P < 0.05); Compared with SEV group, the escape latency of CUR–L group and CUR–H group decreased, the number of crossing platform was increased (P < 0.05), the levels of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and MDA content in hippocampus were decreased, and the activities of SOD and GSH–Px were increased (P < 0.05). The apoptosis rate and the expression level of Bcl-2 protein in hippocampus were decreased, while the expression level of Bax protein was increased (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in all indexes between the CUR-L and the CUR-H group (P > 0.05). Conclusion Curcumin can improve the learning and cognitive dysfunction induced by sevoflurane to a certain extent, and the mechanism is related to the inhibition of hippocampal inflammation, oxidative stress response and neuronal apoptosis.