Objective According investigate the expression of NLRP3 in liver tissues of mice with hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI),to determin the role of NLRP3 in the process of HIRI.Methods Established mice model of partial HIRI.Forty-two male C57BL/6 mice (aged 7 to 8 weeks,weight 20 to 25 g) were respectively divided into 7 groups:no-treatment control group,sham operation group,HIRI groups (2、6、12、24 h) and CY-09 group,6 mice in each group.The injury of the hepatic tissues in the 7 groups was analyzed based on detecting the levels of alanine transaminase (ALT),aspartate transaminase (AST),interleukin-1β (IL-1β),interleukin-18 (IL-18),tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) by ELISA.HE and TUNEL staining were used to observe the pathological changes of liver tissues after HIRI.Western blotting assay were carried out to detect the expressions of NLRP3 and Caspase-1.Measurement data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (Mean ± SD),and one-way variance analysis was used for comparison between groups.If the variance was not uniform,Dunnett C test was used.Results Serum ALT,AST,IL-1 β,IL-18 and TNF-α of mice detected in HIRI groups were higher than no-treatment control group and sham operation group at all endpoints (P ＜ 0.05).The relative expression of NLRP3 and Caspase-1 in the liver tissues of mice in the HIRI groups were significantly higher than that in the no-treatment control group and sham operation group.Serum ALT,AST,IL-1β,IL-18 and TNF-α of mice detected in CY-09 group were lower than HIRI groups at all endpoints (P ＜ 0.05).Less hepatocellular necrosis were exhibited in CY-09 group,comparing to HIRI groups.The hepatocyte apoptosis rate of mice in the CY-09 group was significantly lower than that in the 12 h HIRI group (P ＜ 0.05).The relative expression of NLRP3 in the liver tissues of mice in the CY-09 group was significantly lower than that in other groups.The relative expression of Caspase-1 in the liver tissues of mice in the CY-09 group was significantly lower than that in other groups except the no-treatment control group and sham operation group.Conclusions HIRI cause an increase in NLRP3 expression.The inhibition of NLRP3 can reduce HIRI.