Aim To elucidate effects of aspirin on the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and the mechanism involved. Methods The rat aortic smooth muscle cells were treated with various concentrations of aspirin for 24 hours, then MTT assay was performed to determine the number of the cells. The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was detected by immunocytochemistry. In addition, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied to detect the mRNA expression of PCNA. Results High concentration (5×10-3 mol/L) of aspirin inhibited the proliferation of VSMC and the relative inhibition ratio was 31.5%. Compared with the control group, the expression of PCNA protein and mRNA in the 5×10-3 mol/L aspirin group were significantly decreased (312±48 and 0.663±0.035, p<0.05). Conclusion Aspirin may arrest the proliferation of VSMC by inhibiting the expression of PCNA.