Objective To construct female and male bovine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) models and compare the effects of gender differences on the joint and extra-articular manifestations of CIA models. Methods The CIA model was induced by injection of bovine type II collagen and Freund's complete adjuvant into female and male SD rats. The general condition, arthritis index, foot swelling, serum inflammatory factors and plasminogen activator inhibitor levels, spleen index, knee and ankle joint pathology, right rear paw bone destruction, and pulmonary interstitial lesions of rats in each group were evaluated. Results The arthritis index of female CIA rats was significantly higher than that of male CIA rats on the 21st day after initial immunization (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the degree of foot swelling between the two groups at any time point of observation (P>0.05); Serum tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin1β and spleen index of female CIA rats were significantly higher than those of male CIA rats (P<0.001; P<0.001; P<0.05), there was no significant difference in plasminogen activator inhibitor levels (P>0.05); The scores of inflammatory cell infiltration and synovial hyperplasia in the knee and ankle pathology of female CIA rats were significantly higher than those of male CIA rats (P<0.05), and the cartilage damage of knee joint and the bone damage of right rear paw of female CIA rats were significantly higher than that of male rats (P<0.05); Both male and female CIA rats showed pulmonary interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration and mild fibrosis, but the pulmonary interstitial lesions in females were more severe than those in males. Conclusion Both female and male CIA models constructed with SD rats can have both arthritis and pulmonary interstitial lesions, but the lesion degree of female CIA rats is more serious. When using CIA models for RA related research, attention should be paid to the impact of gender differences.