Aim To investigate the effects and mechanisms of Curcumin Nicotinate on the high fat diet（HFD） induced-atherosclerosis in ApoE^－/－ mice.Methods Seven weeks old male ApoE^－/－ mice were randomly divided into five groups（n50）:control group,HFD group,simvastatin group （5 mg/（kg·d））,low doses of Curcumin Nicotinate group （33 mg/（kg·d）） and high doses of Curcumin Nicotinate group （99 mg/（kg·d））,gavaged every day,respectively.All the mice were fed up with high-fat,high-cholesterol diet that contained 5.0% fat （wt/wt） and 1.0% cholesterol except for control group.After six weeks of treatment,tissue specimens from liver,aorta and blood were collected.The serum total cholesterol （TC）,triglyceride（TG）,low density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDLC）,high density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDLC） were detected by the automatic biochemical analyzer.The assessment of atherosclerosis in aortic trees and aortic sinus and the liver lipid were carried out by staining with oil red O.The atherosclerotic plaques in aortic arches were observed by HE staining.The serum tumor necrosis factor alpha （TNF-α） and interleukin-6 （IL-6） were measured by ELISA kit.The expression of caveolin-1,SREBP-1 in liver were detected by Western blot.Results Compared with the control group,serum TC and LDLC were increased,while HDLC was decreased,and atherosclerotic plaques in aorta was significantly increased.After six weeks of treatment,Curcumin Nicotinate could reduce significantly the level of TC,LDLC,TNF-α and IL-6 in serum and reduce the area of atherosclerotic plaques in HFD ApoE^－/－ mice.The expression of caveolin-1 increased and SREBP-1 decreased in mice liver after Curcumin Nicotinate treatment compared with those in HFD group.Conclusions Curcumin Nicotinate alleviated the progression of atherosclerosis lesion in ApoE^－/－ mice,partly due to its regulation on lipid metabolism and inflammation of ApoE^－/－ mice by SREBP-1 and caveolin-1.