Objective: To study the effect of glucocorticoid on the promoter of the pre-receptor glucocorticoid metabolizing enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) gene. Methods: The 1.2 kb length sequence upstream to the transcription start site of the 11β-HSD1 gene was amplified with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then was cloned into pBLCAT6 plasmid carrying chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene. The plasmid pBLCAT6 carrying the promoter and reporter gene was used to transfect HeLa cells to study the regulation of 11β-HSD1 gene expression by glucocorticoids in terms of reporter gene expression. Results: PCR showed that there was a complete alignment of the amplified sequence with the sequence 1.2 kb upstream to the transcription start site of 11β-HSD1 gene. When cloned into pBLCAT6 plasmid carrying the reporter gene, this part of the promoter is functional in terms of regulation of reporter gene expression upon transfection into HeLa cells. The synthetic glucocorticoid-dexamethasone induced the reporter gene expression in the system described above, which was blocked by glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486. Conclusion: Glucocorticoids can modulate the expression of 11β-HSD1 through a mechanism involving activation of GR and interaction of the promoter of 11β-HSD1 gene.