Abstract: 【Abstract】 Objective To study the expression changes of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the lung of rats with brain ischemia. Methods Adult SD rats were divided into sham operation group and brain ischemia lung injury (BILI) group randomly. Focal cerebral ischemia inflammatory lung injury model was developed with intraluminal thread technique. RT-PCR was applied to detect the IL-6 expression level of lung at 24 h after brain ischemia. The IL-6 protein in lung at 48 h after brain ischemia was detected with Western blot. Immunohistochemistry method was used to demonstrate the IL-6 protein location in lung at 72 h after brain ischemia. Results Increased immunostaining, protein level and mRNA expression for IL-6 were found in lung at investigated time point after brain ischemia. Conclusion IL-6, as a crucial preinflammatory factor, could be related to airway inflammation in rats induced by brain ischemia.