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In the present study,the effects of Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) on 1-methy-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) induced dopamineregic neuron degeneration in the substantia nigra (SN) of C57BL6 mice were investigated.By high-performance liquid chromatography electrochemical detection,we showed that the dopamine content in the striatum decreased after MPTP treatment,which could be restored by Rg1.By immunohistochemistry and semi-quantitative RTPCR,we showed that Rg 1 could prevent the MPTP-induced decrease of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive neurons and the TH mRNA expression in the substantia nigra (SN).Further experiments demonstrated that Rg1 could reverse the changes of bax immunoreactive cells and the bax mRNA expression,bcl-2 immunoreactive cells and the bcl-2 mRNA expression as well as caspase-3 immunoreactive cells and the caspase-3 mRNA expression in the SN of MPTP treated mice.By Perls iron staining study we demonstrated that Rg 1 prevented the MPTP-induced increase of iron-staining cells in the SN.These results suggested that the protective effects of Rg1 on the toxicity of MPTP could be attributed to its antiapoptotic and iron-chelator-like properties.