The local defence mechanism of peritoneal cavity plays an important role in preventing peritonitis during peritoneal dialysis. In this experiment, the effect of Shenmai injection (SI) on the defence mechanism was studied in the remnant kidney model. The results showed that the SI which was added into dialysate could significantly increase the concentration of IgG, C3 in peritoneal cavity (P < 0.05). There was insignificant change in the number of peritoneal macrophages, but the index and the percentage of phagocytosis had the tendency to increase (P > 0.05). SI also relieved the injury of peritoneal mesothelia cells. All these results suggested that the SI had the ability to augment the peritoneal local defence mechanism.