Objective To investigate the effects of interleukin 10(IL 10) on the intercellular adhesion molecule 1(ICAM 1) expression of rat hepatic stellate cells. Method Hepatic stellate cells were isolated and purified from rat liver by collagenase Ⅳ perfusion and density gradient centrifugation with Nycodenz. Passaged hepatic stellate cells were divided randomly into four groups: control group (A group), TNF? 100 U/ml group (B group), TNF? 100 U/ml plus IL 10 2 ng/ml group (C group). TNF? 100 U/ml plus IL 10 20 ng/ml group (D group). 24 h after incubation expression of ICAM 1 protein and mRNA in hepatic stellate cells were detected by using cell ELISA and semi quantitative RT PCR method. Results The yield rate of hepatic stellate cells was 2.5?10 7 per rat. The cell viability was above 98%. The purity of hepatic stellate cells was more then 92%. Expression of ICAM 1 protein (1.400 ?0.077) and mRNA(1.301?0.095) in B group were significantly higher than that in A group [0.559?0.071 ( P