Abstract： Objective To investigate the effects of dexamethasone on expressions of epithelial neutrophil activating protein-78 (ENA-78) and transforming growth factor- beta 1 (TGF-β1) in neutrophil of asthma rats.Methods Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups on average, including asthma group, control group and dexamethasone treated group. In this experiment, the rat model of asthma were established by sentization and challenge with ovalbumin. Blood neutrophil were isolated and purified. The expression of ENA-78 was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of TGF-β1 was detected by immunohistochemical method in blood neutrophil and bronchial wall. Results Expression of ENA-78 in blood neutrophil in dexamethasone treated group(71.82 ±8. 87 mean fluorescence intensity)was lower than that in asthma group, but higher than that in control group(all P ＜0. 01). And expressions of TGF-β1 protein in dexamethasone treated group(0. 173 ± 0. 014,0. 202 ± 0. 019 optical density, respectively) was lower than that in asthma group(all P ＜0. 01) ,but higher than that in control group(all P ＜0. 01). There were significant positive correlation between ENA-78 expression at blood neutrophil and numbers of total inflammation cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (n = 29, γ = 0. 762, P ＜ 0. 01). Conclusion The beneficial effect of glucocorticoid(dexamethasone) on airway inflammation in asthma rats could be at least in part due to their direct inhibitory effect on ENA-78 and TGF-β1 protein generation by neutrophil.