Abstract: Objective: To observe the antiviral effect of hen egg-white lysozyme（HEWL） against herpes simplex virus type 1（hHSV-1）.Methods: The inhibitory activity of HEWL against HSV-1 was tested in vitro on BHK-21 cells,using Genciclovir as positive control and 0.5% SDS as the block-reagent.Data elaboration was carried out by calculation of the cytopathic effect（CPE）.Results: Both the maximum nontoxic concentration（TC₀₅₀） of HEWL on BHK-21 cells were more than 1 000 μg·mL^-1,the mininum inhibitory concentration（MIC） of HEWL to hHSV-1 was 104.17 μg·mL^-1,50% inhibitory concentration（IC₅₀） was 46.88 μg·mL^-1,therapeutic index（TI） was 10.67.In the parallel contrast tests,both the TC₀50-1.the MIC of Genciclovir to hHSV-1 was 7.81 μg·mL^-1,IC₅₀ was 46.88 μg·mL^-1,TI was 64.0.5% SDS blocked the antiviral activity of HEWL completely.Conclusion: HEWL inhibits the activity of hHSV-1 and the inhibitive effect is proportional to enzyme concentration.