The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of S100A10 silencing on the inflammatory response in human chondrocytes (HCs).The inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was investigated in HCs in which the S100A10 was blocked with a lentiviral shRNA vector. A lentiviral shRNA vector targeting S100A10 was constructed and packaged to effectively block S100A10 expression in HCs. HCs were infected with the lentivirus. S100A10 expression levels in HCs were detected by western blot analysis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed to evaluate the change of cytokine secretion levels. The effects of S100A10 silencing on the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and NF-kappa B signaling pathway were also determined by western blot analysis. In addition, fluo-3-AM was used to demonstrate the change in calcium mobilization. Lentivirus effectively infected the HCs and inhibited the expression of S100A10. HCs with downregulated S100A10 showed significantly decreased production of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin (IL)-1 beta and IL-10. S100A10 silencing markedly suppressed the activation of MAPKs induced by LPS. Furthermore, the calcium concentration increase in HCs stimulated by LPS was also inhibited by S100A10 knockdown. Our investigation demonstrated that S100A10 might be considered as a potential target for anti-inflammatory treatment.