Objective To study the effects of intracoronary transfer of adenovirus vector-mediated transforming growth factor ?_1 gene on acute rejection of cardiac allograft in rats. Methods In a cervical heterotopic cardiac transplantation model, donor hearts coronary arteries were perfused ex vivo after harvest with Stanford University solution containing 5?10~ 10 plaque-forming units/gram of donor heart of donor heart of Ad. TGF-?_1, then implanted in the necks of recipients. As controls, other hearts were perfused with Stanford University solution containing 5?10~ 10 plaque-forming units/gram of donor heart adenoviral bland-vector or with virus-free Stanford University solution by the same method. Results The exogenous TGF-?_1 gene transcripts and expression in the Ad.TGF-?_1 infected grafts were confirmed. The expression of CD_ 68 and the apoptosis index in the cardiac allografts of Ad. TGF-?_1 group were less than that of other two groups (P