Objective To investigate the changes and significance of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in intestinal mucosa in rats with obstructive jaundice. MethodsTwenty-four SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation (SO) group and bile duct ligation (BDL) group, and each group were randomly divided into the day 7 and day 14 subgroup. The expression of ICAM-1 was assayed by immunohistochemistry. The level of TNF-α was determined by ELISA. The activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and diamine oxidase (DAO) was determined as well.ResultsOn the day 7 and 14, in the bile duct ligation group, the ICAM-1 protein was mainly expressed in the intestinal epithelia and increased with the time on (P＜0.05); the level of TNFα increased from （14.25±1.01） ng/g to （23.83±1.43） ng/g （P＜0.01）； the intestinal DAO activity decreased from （1.70±0.36） U/mg to （1.22±0.41） U/mg （P＜0.01），and plasma DAO activity increased from （6.44±1.74）U/ml to （8.93±1.29） U/ml （P＜0.01）; the MPO activity increased from （2.85±1.22 ） U/mg to （4.93±1.37） U/mg （P＜0.01）. ConclusionThe ICAM-1 expression is significantly upregulated and the level of TNFα significantly increases after bile duct ligation, which may be involved in the PMNmediated injury to intestinal mucosa.