Objective To explore the protective effect of propofol on inflammation and oxidative stress in brain tissue of ischemic stroke mice and to improve nerve function,and to clarify its mechanism.Methods Forty-eight C57 mices were divided into Sham group,Sham+P(propofol)group,IS(Ischemic stroke)group and IS+P group randomly,with 12 mices in each group.Mice in the IS group and the IS+P group were treat-ed with MCAO model to establish ischemic stroke model.The Sham+P group and the IS+P group were in-traperitoneally injected with 30 mg/kg propofol immediately after modeling,and the administration was repeated 12h later.The Sham group and the IS group were intraperitoneally injected with equal volume of normal saline.After 24 hours,mice in each group were scored with neurological deficit.HE staining method was used to ob-serve the pathological morphology of brain tissue of mice in each group,and the levels of inflammatory factors,oxidative stress factors and nerve injury related factors in brain tissue of mice in each group were detected with relevant kits.The expression of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2(Nrf2)protein in the brain of mice in each group was detected by Western Blotting.Results Compared with the Sham+P group,there were no differ-ences in all indexes of mice in the Sham group(P>0.05),the neurological function deficit score of mice in IS group was significantly increased(P<0.05),the pathological injury and inflammatory infiltration of brain were significant(P<0.05),and the TNF-a and IL-6 were increased significantly(P<0.05).The level of SOD in brain was significantly decreased,the levels of MDA,NSE and GFAP were significantly increased(P<0.05),and the expression of Nrf2 was significantly increased(P<0.05).Compared with the IS group,the neurological function deficit score of mice in the IS+P group was significantly decreased(P<0.05),the histopathological injury was significantly improved,the inflammatory cell infiltration was decreased(P<0.05),the serum TNF-α and IL-6 contents were significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the level of SOD in brain was increased.The levels of MDA,NSE and GFAP were decreased(P<0.05),and the expression of Nrf2 protein was de-creased(P<0.05).Conclusion The treatment of propofol can inhibit the inflammatory immune response and oxidative stress in the brain of mice with ischemic stroke,and improve the neurological damage of mice,the mechanism of which may be related to the regulation of Nrf2 pathway.