Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of zinc on the expression of phosphorylative extracellularsignal-regulate kinase (pERK) in spinal cord and the hot pain threshold of capsaicin induced neuropathic pain (NPP) in model rats． Methods Seventy two C57/ BL6 rats were randomly divided into 4 groups and capsaicin (0．5%, 5 μl) was injected in feet of NPP rats to build the model．Control group: normal (zinc, 30 mg/(kg·d)) fed rats injected with solvent (Tween 80, alcohol and 0．9% sodium chloride solution); N-NPP group: normal fed rats were injected with capsaicin after 2 weeks; L-NPP group: low-zinc (0．85 mg/(kg·d)) fed rats were injected with capsaicin after 2 weeks; H-NPP group: high-zinc (227mg/(L·d)) fed rats were injected with capsaicin after 2 weeks．Animal ethology observation, immunohistochem istry, immune blotting and image analysis were used to test the effect of zinc on the expression of pERK in model mice spinal cord and the hot pain threshold during seven days after injection． Results High-zinc feed could down-regulate the pERK expression, im prove the hot pain threshold (P< 0．01), while low-zinc feed can up-regulate the pERK expression, reduce the hot pain threshold (P< 0．01)． Conclusion Zinc can inhibit the pERK expression in spinal cord and the hot pain threshold of capsaicin induced NPP in model rats．