Abstract: objective: To investigate the effect of ghrelin on adipocytic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) .Methods: BMSCs from mice were cultured , and adipocytic differentiation was induced by MDI inducers .The morphological changes of the cells were observed .Oil-Red O staining measurement , alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity measurement ,MTT assay ,RT-PCR and Western blot were employed . Results: 10-9，10 -8，10-7 mol/L ghrelin could dose-dependently inhibit the adipocytic differentiation of BMSCs and promote ALP activity (P<0.05 or P <0.01). Ghrelin decreased the expression of PPARγ2, adipsin mRNA and PPARγ2 protein. Ghrelin exerted no influences on clonal expansion in early phase of differentiation. Conclusion：ghrelin can inhibit the adipocytic differentiation of BMSCs ,which might be closely related to the downregulation of PPARγ2.

Key words: ghrelin, bone marrow stromal cells, adipocytic differentiation