Using the rodent models of hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury both in wild type and TLR4 knockout (TLR4 KO) mice, we found that remifentanil preconditioning could inhibit the expression of TLR4 and reduce the inflammatory response induced by HIRI in wild type but not in TLR4 KO mice. The gene discussed is TLR4; the disease is ischemia reperfusion injury.