AIM: To explore the effect of Dendrobium officinale polysaccharide (DOP) on the activation of rat hepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6) induced by TGF-β1, and its anti-hepatic fibrosis (HF) mechanism, through epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and Notch signaling pathway. METHODS: The administration concentration of DOP to HSC-T6 cells was detected, and its 24-hour half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was calculated to determine the safe dosage for administration by CCK-8 method. HSC-T6 cells were randomly divided into normal group, TGF-β1 group (10 ng/mL), and the low, medium, and high DOP groups (1.6, 3.2, 6.4 mg/mL, respectively). TGF-β1 at a concentration of 10 ng/mL was added into the TGF-β1 group and each drug group, and the corresponding concentrations of DOP were administered to different drug groups. After 24 hours culture, the activity of HSC-T6 cells in each group after was detected by CCK-8 method, and the mRNA and protein expression levels of fibrosis indicators (α-SMA, COL-I), EMT indicators (E-cadherin, Vimentin, ZEB1), and Notch signaling pathway indicators (Notch1, Jagged1, Hes1) were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot methods. RESULTS: After 24 hours of DOP intervention, compared with the TGF-β1 group, the activity of HSC-T6 cells was significantly inhibited (P<0.01), and the expression levels of α-SMA, COL-I, Vimentin, ZEB1, Notch1, Jagged1, Hes1 mRNAs and proteins in the cells were significantly reduced, and the expression of E-cadherin mRNA and protein was significantly increased (P<0.05 or 0.01) in the medium and high DOP groups, while there is a smaller effect on HSC-T6 cells in the low DOP group. CONCLUSION: DOP can exert anti-HF effects by directly inhibiting the activation of HSCs, EMT and Notch signaling pathways in the TGF-β1 activated HSCs, or indirectly by inhibiting the Notch signaling pathway to suppress EMT.