The liver X receptor(LXR) is one of the nuclear receptors related to metabolic syndrome.LXR plays an important role in the balance of cholesterol and lipid metabolism.LXR has been found to increase the utilization of glucose,decrease the insulin resistance,and simultaneously has an adverse effect in islet β cell.LXR influences fat cell differentiation and reduces expression of the obese gene then cause obesity.It also participates the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver and control the atherosclerosis.LXR is involved in inflammatory responses in macrophages and lymphocytes.The ability of LXR to integrate metabolic and inflammatory signaling makes it particularly attractive target for intervention in human metabolic diseases.In this review,we summarize the studies of LXR,clarify the LXR in the prospects for the treatment of metabolic syndrome.