Microglia plays an important role in mediating neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Intervention in microglia activation may exert a neuroprotective effect. In the present study, we reported that oligomeric Abeta1-42 dramatically increased the level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-1beta compared to monomeric and fibrillar Abeta1-42 in rat microglial cultures. Pretreatment of the cultures with triptolide, an anti-inflammatory reagent, alleviated the elevation of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta level induced by oligomeric Abeta1-42. Our results showed that oligomeric Abeta played an important role in mediating neuroinflammation and triptolide was able to suppress the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines from microglia.