RESUMEN
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the proliferation effect of neural stem cells (NSCs) of ginsenoside Rg1 in vitro.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>NSCs from the embryonic rat (E14) were isolated, 10 mg x L(-1) BrdU were added in the medium. The NSCs were incubated together with 1, 10 micromol x L(-1) ginsenoside Rg1 for 48 hours, control group were setup. Then BrdU positive cell number were detected and counted by fluorescence microscop. The Hes1 and Mash1 mRNA expression were detected by real-time RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The number of BrdU positive cells in 10 micromol x L(-1) ginsenoside Rg1 group was increased significantly compared with the control group (40.5 +/- 10.9 vs 26.2 +/- 6.0, P < 0.01), and the Hes1 mRNA expression were increased significantly (1.00 +/- 0.11) vs (1.28 +/- 0.14), P < 0.05.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>ginsenoside Rg1 can promote the proliferation of neural stem cells in vitro, and this effect may be induced by the up-regulation Hes1 expression.</p>