In the present study, quantitative and qualitative histology was used to assess the effects of ibuprofen suppositories with various treatments on the rectal mucosa of rats. Two suppositories were prepared with Witepsol W35 and compared with two commercial ibuprofen suppositories Reference I(Showa Pharm. ind., Tokyo, Japan), Reference II(P. Pharm., Seoul, Korea). Single and multiple dose(dosing interval 4 hr, n=4) studies were conducted. All suppositories significantly increased epithelial cell loss, but the extent of rectal irritation was variable. These studies showed that the incorporation of ibuprofen into the suppository bases increases the morphological change in rectal tissue both for the single and multiple administrations of suppositories, but which was significantly recovered within 24 hr although the inter-animal variability in scores was very substantial. Multiple administration of ibuprofen suppositories caused significant damage to rectal mucosa, but it must be considered that these were under the severe condition, that is, interval of administration (4 hr) was three times shorter than normal interval of administration and dose was fifteen times larger than usual human dose. Aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), a dispersing agent, slightly increased the irritation of rectal mucosa in rats at 5hr and 24hr after multiple administration, but it was possible to ignore the difference of irritation in the data at 5hr and 24hr after single administration. Finally, it was concluded that Witepsol W35 and ibuprofen had a slight rectal mucosa-irritating effect on the usual human dose, and ibuprofen suppositories prepared with Witepsol W35 or Witepsol W35, Al₂O₃ showed almost similar extent of rectal irritation with commercial ibuprofen products.