Objective To study the protective effect of triptolide (TL) on neurons of epileptic rats and possible mechanisms.Methods Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=20 each): control, model and TL group. The TL group was administered TL by intraperitoneal injections (15 μg/kg daily). The control group was injected with normal saline. After 7 days, epilepsy was induced in the model and TL groups by Kainic acid (KA) injection. Immunohistochemisty and Western blot methods were used to detect the expression of potassium channel kv1.1 in the hippocampus CA3.Results In the model group, the expression of kv1.1 in the hippocampus CA3 was lower than in the control group (P<0.05). The expression of kv1.1 in the hippocampus CA3 in the TL group was higher than in the model group(P<0.05). There were no differences in the expression of kv1.1 between the control and TL groups.Conclusions TL has neuroprotective effects in epileptic rats, possibly through increasing the expression of kv1.1 in the hippocampus CA3 neuron.