The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of curcumin on eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage and oxidative stress in rats. Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: Control (C; no curcumin, no exercise; n=6), Curcumin (Cur; n=8), Exercise (E; n=8) and Exercise Plus Curcumin (ECur; n=8). Curcumin was given for 20 days via oral gavage at doses of 200 mg/kg(-1) of body weight per day, dissolved in corn oil. On the 21st day eccentric exercise was provided via a treadmill run and the rats were sacrificed immediately after. Eccentric exercise resulted in significant (p<0.05) increases in all injury markers such as creatine kinase (CK) and myoglobin, but curcumin supplementation tended to decrease CK activity (p>0.05) and significantly decreased myoglobin levels (p<0.05). In blood and muscle samples, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were not affected by either curcumin or exercise (p>0.05). MDA levels in liver tissue decreased in the ECur group, compared to the control (p<0.05). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and glutathione (GSH) levels were affected by neither curcumin nor exercise (p>0.05), in blood, muscle and liver tissues. The results of this study suggest that curcumin has a protective effect on eccentric exercise induced muscle damage, and that this effect might be independent of oxidative stress and antioxidant systems.