The purpose of this study is to investigate the modulatory effect of emodin on hydrogen peroxide production in human blastoma SH-SY5Y cells induced by the synthetic analog of double-stranded RNA [polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid]. Hydrogen peroxide production was measured by dihydrorhodamine 123 (DHR) assay. Emodin significantly inhibited the polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (PIC)-induced production of hydrogen peroxide for 0.5, 2, 12, 18, and 24 hr incubation at the concentrations of 5, 10, 25, and 50 uM in SH-SY5Y (P < 0.05) in dose dependent manner. These results suggest that emodin has neuroprotective property related with its inhibition of hydrogen peroxide production in PIC-induced neuronal cells.