Objective To observe the effect of hepatocyte growth factor on preserving isolated heart of rats. Methods Forty rats were random divided into two groups: Control group(n=20)which rat hearts were isolated and preserved in 4℃HTK solution, and experimental group(n=20)which rat hearts were isolated and preserved in 4℃ HTK+rh-HGF(100μg/L)solution. Before operation and rat hearts were subjected to 8 hours(groupA,C)or 12 hours(group B,D)hypothermic storage followed by 5 minutes of normothermic reperfusion onmodifiedLangendorff-Neely model. The recovery rate of cardiac function after myocardial preservation, such as LVSP and LVDP and±dp/dt max and the changes of CK,LDH,NO and ET were measured. Cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining and the expression of c-met was analyzed by immunohistochemical method. The expression change of bcl-2 mRNA was examined by RT-PCR. Results Compared with control group, experimental group showed that a significantly higher recovery rate of LVSP,LVDP and±dp/dt max(P＜0.01) and lower rate of TUNEL positive cardiomyocytes(P＜0.01) after reperfusion. The leakage of CK and LDH was significant lower than that of control group(P＜0.01). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that c-met receptor expression was stronger in the HGF-treated myocardium than that in the non HGF-treated myocardium after storage, and this was associated with a stronger expression of bcl-2 mRNA. Conclusion The administration of rh-HGF before storage improved cardiac function after prolonged myocardial preservation by preventing apoptosis and enhancing expression of bcl-2 mRNA. Thus, the addition of rh-HGF in the storage solution may be a promising strategy for prolonged heart graft preservation.