Objective To investigate the effects of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) on myocardiac remodeling and intervention role of adiponectin (Ad) in the process. Methods A total of 45 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: normal control (NC) group, CIH group and CIH＋Ad group (10 μg Ad injection through caudal vein twice per week, for 5 weeks). After 35 days’ CIH exposure (in a chamber with 60 s nitrogen infusion to reduce the oxygen concentration to 5% followed by another 60 s oxygen infusion to increase the concentration to 20% for totally 8 h of each day), Masson analysis was used to detect the left ventricular fibrosis, and Western blot was used to measure the protein expression of collagen Ⅰ, collagen Ⅲ and pathway proteins TGF-β/smad2/3. RT-PCR was used to study the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2). Results After CIH exposure, the left ventricular fibrosis was significantly more severe in CIH group than in NC group and CIH＋Ad group (P＜0.05), and there was statistical difference between the 2 latter groups (P＜0.05). In addition, the protein expression of collagen Ⅰ and collagen Ⅲ and the mRNA expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-2 were the highest in CIH group, the lowest in NC group, and CIH＋Ad group in the middle. There was a significant difference among 3 groups (all P＜0.05). The pathway proteins TGF-β/smad2/3 were most significantly expressed in CIH group (P＜0.05) , but there was still significant difference in their expression between NC group and CIH＋Ad group (P＜0.05). Conclusion CIH may cause may left ventricular remodeling, while Ad supplement may ameliorate the impairment via inhibiting TGF-β/smad2/3 pathway.