To investigate the effects of dietary pyridoxine (PN) on antioxidant status of fish in serum, intestine and trunk kidney, 1050 juvenile Jian carp (11.7 +/- 0.1 g) were used for the experiment. The carp were divided into seven groups and fed diets containing graded levels of PN (0.20, 1.71, 3.23, 4.96, 6.32, 8.58 and 12.39 mg kg(-1) of diet) for 80 days. Results of the study showed that content of malondialdehyde in serum, intestine and kidney tissues was the highest when fed the diet containing 1.71 mg PN kg(-1) diet (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the protein carbonyl content of intestine and kidney tissue showed a downward trend to a point (P < 0.05). Conversely, activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione S-transferase, glutathione reductase and glutathione (GSH) content in serum, intestine and kidney tissue were generally higher in PN-supplemented diets than unsupplemented diet (P < 0.05). The present results indicated that the PN decreased lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation in fish, and partly because of its improved antioxidant enzymes activities and levels of GSH.