Probucol is a potent hypolipidemic drug that decreases plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels but attenuates atherosclerosis. However, the detailed mechanisms are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to explore the molecular mechanisms of the HDL-C-lowering and antiatherogenic effects of probucol. New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into normal diet group, normal diet+probucol group, high fat diet (HFD) group and HFD+probucol (HFD+P) group. After 7 weeks of treatments, the extent of the atherosclerotic lesions, hepatic lipid accumulation and plasma levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and HDL-C were significantly reduced in HFD+P group as compared to HFD group. Probucol effectively inhibited down-regulation of hepatic scavenger receptor class B typeⅠ (SR-BⅠ) expression, and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters G5 (ABCG5) and G8 (ABCG8) expression in the liver and small intestine induced by HFD but further promoted HFD-induced reduction in hepatic ABC transporter A1 (ABCA1) expression. In addition, probucol also significantly prevented HFD-induced increases of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1, interleukin-6 and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 levels in the aortic arch and plasma. Thus, our data provide strong evidence that probucol alleviates atherosclerosis through regulating ABCA1, SR-BⅠ, ABCG5 and ABCG8 expression and inhibiting the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.