Objective Methods A total of 80 Wistar male rats were randomly divided into control group and early quitting smoke groups on the smoking cessation stage 0 day，1 week，2 weeks，4 weeks，6 weeks，8 weeks，12 weeks． Levels of IL-8 protein in serum of different group rats were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) ，expressions of NF-κB p65 in lung tissue were detected by S-P immunohistochemistry，and pathology score of inflammation on airway were carried out by observing HE stained lung tissue sections under light microscope． Results Early quitting smoke group could be seen Cilia sticking together，lodging，epithelial cell vacuoles deformation，necrosis，hyperplasia，inflammatory cell infiltration． The levels of IL-8 protein in serum，expression of NF-κB and pathological score in lung tissue of smoking cessation groups on any smoking cessation stage was significantly higher than non-smoking control group，statistically significant ( P＜0. 05) ． In early quitting smoke groups，the serum level of IL-8，expression of NF-κB and airway inflammation pathological score of groups was the highest after 8 weeks of smoking cessation，and then the serum level of IL-8 tended to decrease and the lung inflammation alleviated on the smoking cessation stage 12 weeks． Conclusions Although on the early stage of smoking cessation，inflammatory response can be seen a slight increase，but with the cessation prolonged inflammatory response can still be seensome relief． Therefore，it is necessary to persist on quitting smoking as soon as possible