Objective To investigate the effects of curcumin pretreatment on the numbers of neutrophils in bloodand tissues of heatstroke rats in a dry-heat desert environment. Methods One-hundred-sixty male Sprague-Dawley ratswere randomly divided into four groups (n=40 per group). All groups were given an isometric gavage for 7 days. On theeighth day, all groups were transferred to a Simulated Climate Cabin, which was set to mimic the special environment ofNorthwest China. At 0, 50, 100, and 150 min, ten rats per group were removed from the cabin and anesthetized to collectblood from the inferior vena cava to determine the neutrophil number. At 150 min, the ileum, liver, kidney, and lung ofthe rats were harvested for pathological observation to assess the number of neutrophils and tissue alterations. Results Numbers of neutrophils in the blood of all four groups were increased from 0 to 50 min, and then decreased from 50 to 150min. At 150 min, numbers of neutrophils infiltrating the ileum, liver, kidney, and lung tissues were decreased with theincreasing curcumin dose pretreatment. Moreover, significantly fewer neutrophils were observed in the medium- and highdosecurcumin pretreatment groups compared with the saline and low-dose curcumin pretreatment groups ( P < 0. 01). At150 min, the rats reached a severe heatstroke status. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that the number of neutrophils inblood was negatively and significantly correlated with numbers of neutrophils in the ileum, liver, kidney and lung tissues.Conclusions With continued exposure to the desert dry-heat environment, blood neutrophils in rats are first elevated andthen gradually decreased. In addition, numbers of infiltrating neutrophils in organ tissues are increased with the aggravationof heatstroke, and the decrease of blood neutrophils is intimately correlated to the increase of infiltrating neutrophils inorgan tissues. By inhibiting the decrease of blood neutrophils and accompanying increase of infiltrating neutrophils in organ tissues, curcumin may alleviate organ injury in heatstroke rats in a dry-heat desert environment.