Aim To investigate the role of macrophage lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) in the process of atherosclerosis inflammation, the effects of C-reactive protein (CRP) or high density lipoprotein (HDL) on LOX-1 mRNA and protein expression, and on intracellular cholesterol content in THP-1 derived macrophages were investigated. Methods THP-1 cells were differentiated into macrophages with PMA. THP-1 derived macrophages were incubated with CRP or HDL of different concentration in vitro. The expressions of LOX-1 antigen and mRNA were determined by ELISA and RT-PCR. Cellular cholesterol contents were measured before and after CRP or HDL treatments with HPLC. Results Compared with control group, both CRP and HDL can increase the expression of LOX-1 protein and mRNA significantly (P<0.05) in a dose dependent manner on THP-1 derived macrophages. CRP promoted cellular cholesterol accumulation (P<0.01), while HDL decreased intracellular cholesterol content significantly (P<0.01). Conclusions LOX-1 expression in THP-1 derived macrophages can be promoted by either pro-inflammatory factor CRP or anti-inflammatory factor HDL, which suggested that LOX-1 may not play a critical role in the inflammatory process of macrophages.