Abstract: The levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide （VIP） in three regions of rat brain were assayed in 62 rats. In saline-treated rats, VIP levels of cerebral cortex and caudate nucleas in 3-hour group were significantly decreased in comparison with the sham-operated group. No significant difference was found between RSM-treated and sham-operated groups. The preliminary results suggest that VIP may be involved in the pathophysiologic procedures of cerebral ischemia and RSM may attenuate the dysfunction of VIP during cerebral ischemia.