Thirsty SD rats were randomly divided into control group， model group and curcumin group（n＝10）. The rats in control group were given ordinary diet and the rats in other two groups were given high cholesterol diet daily for 28 d.At the same time， the rats in curcumin group were given 200 mg·kg^－1·d^－1 curcumin by gavage， and the rats in control group and model group were given 1% sodium carboxymethylcellulose solution； once a day for 28 d. The sera of rats were taken and the levels of blood lipids were detected by enzyme method. The cerebral microvessels of rats were extracted； the activity of superoxide dismutase （SOD）in cerebral microvessel was detected by xanthine oxidase method； the level of malondialdehyde （MDA） was detected by thiobarbituric acid method； the expression levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 （ICAM-1）， vascular cell adhesion molecule-1（VCAM-1） and E-selectin proteins in the cerebral microvessel endothelial cells of the rats were detected by Western blotting method.

Compared with control group， the total cholesterol（TC），triglyceride（TG），and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol（ LDL-C） in serum of the rats in model group were significantly increased（P<0.01），the high density lipoprotein-cholesterol（HDL-C） in serum was significantly decreased （P<0.01），the SOD activity in cerebral microvessel was significantly decreased （P<0.01）， the level of MDA was significantly increased（P<0.05）， and the expression levels of ICAM-1，VCAM-1 and E-selectin proteins in cerebral microvessel endothelial cells were significantly increased （P<0.05 or P<0.01）. Compared with model group， the TC， TG， LDL-C in serum of the rats in curcumin group were significantly decreased （P<0.05）， the HDL-C in serum was significantly increased （P<0.05）， the SOD activity in cerebral microvessel was significantly increased （P<0.05）， the level of MDA was significantly decreased （P<0.05）， and the expression levels of ICAM-1， VCAM-1 and E-selectin proteins in cerebral microvessel endothelial cells were significantly decreased（P<0.05）.

Curcumin may ameliorate the cerebral microcirculation disorder by improving the blood lipid status of the hypercholesterolemia rats， increasing the ability of antioxidant enzyme， reducing oxidative stress damage and decreasing the expressions of adhesion factors in the endothelial cells of cerebral microcirculation.