To study the effects of oestrogcn on ischemia-induced neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyms, thirty-two adult male rats were randomly divided into four groups： the control surgery group with eestrogen administration （SE）, the control surgery group with normal saline administration （SN）, the middle cerebral artery occlusion （MCAO） group with oestrogen administration （ME） and the MCAO group with normal saline administration （MN）. The MCAO rats were occluded for 90 rain by an intraluminal filament and then recirculated. After 1, 3, 12, 24 and 28 h of MCAO, the rats of the four groups were killed to investigate the infarct volume, apoptosis and neurogenesis. The cerebral infarct volume in the ME group was significantly smaller than that of the MN group （P 〈 0.05）. No significant cell loss was seen in the dentate gyms. Cerebral ischemia led to increased neurogenosis, which is independent of cell death in the ipsilateral dentate gyrus（P 〈 0.05）. BrdU-pesitive cells in the ipsilateral dentate gyms of the ME group were significantly increased when compared with those of the MN group（P 〈 0.05）. In the SE group, BrdU-positive cells in both the ipsilateral and contralateral dentate gyms, were increased when compared with those of the SN group （ P 〈 0.05 ）. We concluded that ocstregen plays an important role in neurogenesis, which is independent of ischemia-induced by MCAO in the hippocampal dentate gyms of rats.
