The current study was designed to explore the mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and migration induced by adenosine diphosphate ribosyl cyclase(ADPRC). In this study, 32 Male ApoE-/- mice(6 weeks old, 18-22g)on a C57BL/6J background were divided into four groups, which received normal chow (n=8, NC group), high-fat Western-type diet (n=8, 0.25% cholesterol, 21% fat,HFD group), high-fat Western-type diet,infusion of 2,2′-dihydroxyazobenzene(DHAB, a ADPRC inhibitor, 2mg/kg/day, n=8, HFD-DHAB group) intraperitoneally or high-fat Western-type diet,infusion of LY294002(a Inhibitor of Akt, 5mg/kg/d, n=8, HFD-LY group) intraperitoneally, for 10 weeks. 8 male C57BL/6J mice served as control. After 10 weeks, mice were anesthetized with chloral hydrate, aorta was removed and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. Aortic atherosclerotic lesions, VSMC proliferation and migration were assessed by histomorphological observation, smooth muscle actin-α(α-SMA)and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) examination. ADPRC expression and alterations of Akt, FOXO3a, phospho-FOXO3a and MMP-9 were determined by RT-PCR, Western Blot, Immunohistochemistry or Immunofluorescence. The results showed that, in aortic atherosclerotic lesions derived from atherosclerotic mice of HFD group, an increased VSMC proliferation and migration, reflected by the up-regulation of α-SMA and PCNA expression, were observed followed by increased expression of ADPRC, Akt, FOXO3a, phospho-FOXO3a and MMP-9. The enhanced expression of ADPRC and followed alterations of FOXO3a, phospho-FOXO3a, MMP-9 as well as α-SMA, PCNA, VSMC proliferation and migration were absent in NC group and C57BL/6J control mice. Treatment with DHAB or LY294002 reversed VSMC proliferation, migration and expression of Akt, FOXO3a, phospho-FOXO3a and MMP-9 in HFD-DHAB and HFD-LY group. These data shows that high-fat Western-type diet induced ADPRC may via PI3K-Akt to phosphorylate FOXO3a up-regulating MMP-9 to enhance vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration in mice.