Objective To study the therapeutic effect of combined administration of nerve growth factor(NGF)and ganglioside GM_ 1 on the hypoxic-ischemic brain injury(HIBI)rat model and the relevant involving mechanisms.Methods A total of 120 7-day old rats were randomly divided into 5 groups:sham-operation group,HIBI group,NGF group,GM_ 1 group and NGF+GM_ 1 group.HE staining,immunohistochemical staining and TUNEL staining were employed respectively to study the morphological changes,bcl-2 and Bax expressions and apoptosis in the hippocampal neuron after treatment.Results Pathological changes were observed in the hippocampal neuron after HIBI.In NGF+GM_ 1 group,the level of Bcl-2 expression was increased significantly(P