stevioside,a diterpene glycoside isolated from stevia rebaudiana,has been reported to have anti-inflammatory properties.however,the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood.the objective of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanism of stevioside in modifying lipopolysaccharide (lps)-induced signal pathways in raw264.7 cells.raw264.7 cells were stimulated with lps in the presence or absence of stevioside.the expression ofpro-inflammartory cytokines were determined by elisa and qrt-pcr.nuclear factor-κb (nf-κb),inhibitory kappa b (iκbα) protein,p38,extracellular signal-regulated kinase (erk),c-jun n-terminal kinase (jnk) were determined by western blot.the results showed that stevioside dose-dependently inhibited the expression of tnf-α,il-6 and il-1β in lps-stimulated raw264.7 cells.western blot analysis showed that stevioside suppressed lps-induced nf-κb activation,iκba degradation,phosphorylation of erk,jnk and p38.our results suggest that stevioside exerts an anti-inflammatory property by inhibiting the activation of nf-κb and mapk signaling and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines.these findings suggest that stevioside may be a therapeutic agent against inflammatory diseases.