Objective To investigate the influence of hypoxic preconditioning on pulmonary structure of rats exposed to simulated high altitude hypoxia and to explore the role of hypoxia inducible factor-1α（HIF-1α）.Methods Fifty-six Wistar rats were randomly divided into 7 groups(n=8 in each group),ie,a normal control group(N group)，an acute hypoxic control group(H0 group)，an acute hypoxic group(H1 group)，a 3 000 m hypoxic preconditioning group(C3.0 group)，a 3 000 m hypoxic preconditioning + acute hypoxic group (C3.1 group)，a 5 000 m hypoxic preconditioning group(C5.0 group)，and a 5 000 m hypoxic preconditioning + acute hypoxic group(C5.1 group).After treated with hypoxic preconditioning，the animals were exposed to simulated altitude of 6 000 m for 24 hours.Then the protein and mRNA expression of HIF-1α in lung of N，H0，C3.0 and C5.0 groups were assessed by Western blot and RT-PCR，respectively.The lung structure in N，H1，C3.1 and C5.1 groups was observed by light microscope and electron microscope.Results Pulmonary interstitial edema was apparently observed in H1 group，while significantly relieved in two hypoxic preconditioning groups.HIF-1α protein was not detected in rat lungs by Western blot analysis.Compared to N group，the levels of HIF-1α mRNA significantly increased in C3.0 group and C5.0 group(both Plt;0.01).Conclusions Hypoxic preconditioning can relieve hypoxic pulmonary interstitial edema and increase HIF-1α mRNA expression in rat lungs.HIF-1 may be involved in the process of hypoxic preconditioning in rat lungs.