In order to characterize the effects of 17β-estradiol (17β-E2) on the expression of IL-6,IL-11 and NF-κB in the human MG-63 osteoblast-likecell line, the expression of IL-6 was detected by RT-PCR, Northern blot and Western blot. The expression of IL-11 was determined by RT-PCR, and NF-κB by Western blot. The results showed that 17β-E2 down-regulated the expression of IL-6 mRNA and protein, IL-11 mRNA and NF-κB protein in MG-63 cells. It was suggested that the expression of NF-κB, IL-6 and IL-11 in MG-63 cells could be suppressed by 17β-E2, and this might lend support to estrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal women.