Objective To investigate the expression and effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in cerebral vessels of scalded rats. Method Histological method was used to observe the alteration of histological structure of basilar artery in 8 scalded rats. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was performed to examine expression of ET-1 mRNA; Western blotting to analyse expression of endothelin-1; radioimmunoassay to measure ET-1 levels, respectively, of cerebral basilar artery in 48 scalded rats. Result Vascular pathohistological changes were observed in cerebral basilar artery after rats were scalded; ET-1, ET-1 mRNA expression and ET-1 levels of basilar artery in scald 6 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours group were obviously higher than that of control group. Conclusion Scald may cause an increases of ET-1 expression in basilar artery, and elevated ET-1 expression may relate to the pathogenesis of cerebral vascular injury in scalded rats.