We investigated the effects of sauchinone, isolated from the root of Saururus chinensis, on muscle disorders and the underlying mechanism of oxidative stress-induced C(2)C(12) skeletal muscle myoblast damage. To assess the protective effects of sauchinone on oxidative stress-induced C(2)C(12) skeletal muscle myoblasts, we measured the viability of the cells, showing that sauchinone pre-treatment significantly reduced the decreased cell viability after H(2)O(2) treatment. We also investigated the mechanism of this protective effect of sauchinone. In Western blot analysis, the heat shock protein (HSP)-70 level increased significantly in the sauchinone-pretreated myoblasts. We used high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to examine the level of endogenous ceramide after pre-treatment with sauchinone followed by exposure to H(2)O(2). While hydrogen peroxide increased the ceramide content to approximately 166.60±38.93% of the control level, pre-treatment with sauchinone inhibited this increase, maintaining the ceramide content at the control level. We demonstrated that sauchinone regulates intracellular HSP70 expression as well as ceramide levels to protect against oxidative stress-induced C(2)C(12) muscle myoblast damage. We suggest the potential benefits of herbal medicines in the treatment of oxidative stress-related muscle disorders.