Objective To detect and investigate the expression and the effect of Prohibitin (PHB) in rats with renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) .Methods Forty-eight Wistar male rats (6-weeks-old) were randomly assigned into 2 groups,sham-operated and model group.The model group rats were subjected to left ureteral ligation after anesthesia and the sham-operated group rats were subjected to sham operation.Six rats were killed 7,14,21,28 days after operation respectively.The renal tissues were collected.The index of RIF was calculated.The expressions of mRNA and protein of PHB were assayed by real time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Results Compared with sham-operation group,at each time point,the model group had significantly increased index of RIF (P < 0.01) and the obstruction for a longer period showed the higher index; the model group had significantly decreased expression of mRNA and protein of PHB (P < 0.01) and the obstruction for a longer period showed the lower expression; the model group had significantly increased expression of mRNA and protein of TGF-β1 (P < 0.01) and the obstruction for a longer period showed the higher expression.Correlation analysis showed that the index of RIF was negatively correlated with FHB (γ = -0.825) and positively correlated with TGF-β1 (γ = 0.995),while there was a positive correlation between PHB and TGF-β1 (γ = -0.786).Conclusions The lower expression of PHB in renal tissue of UUO rats might suggest that it play an important role in RIF.