Salvianolic acid B(Sal B) is an active component of traditional Chinese medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza and is used to treat vascular diseases. To better understand its mechanism, the antioxidant capacities of Sal B was evaluated with human endothelial cells under oxidative stress. Human endothelial cells were pretreated with Sal B for 12 h followed by hydrogen peroxide for another 12 h. Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and concentration of glu-tathione were measured: Protective effect of Sal B on the endothelial cells from hydrogen peroxide-induced damage ' was observed, and ROS production in the cells was found significantly inhibited. Sal B remarkably enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes SOD, CAT and GPX. Furthermore, Sal B up-regulated the intracellular glutathione concentration. The results indicate that Sal B protected endothelial cells from oxidative stress by improving the redox status of the cells through enhancing the antioxidant enzyme activities and increasing the reductive glutathione concentration after the oxidative challenge.