¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To study the levels of proliferation and apoptosis of brain glioma cells and their relationship to the pathological grade of brain glioma. METHODS: Eightyª²three cases of brain glioma specimen were chosen, and the protein expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and apoptotic cells were investigated respectively by immunohistochemistry SABC method and TdTª²mediated dUTPª²biotin nickª²end labeling (TUNEL) method. The proliferative index (PI) and the apoptotic index (AI) of brain glioma were calculated, and the overall daily growth (ODG) of brain glioma was assessed. RESULTS: The PI, AI and ODG of brain glioma were (28¡À19)%, (1.0¡À0.8)% and (12¡À10)% respectively, all of which ascended with the increasing of pathological grade of brain glioma(P<0.01), and all of which in malignant glioma were significantly higher than those in benign glioma (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: PI, AI and ODG are capable of objectively reflecting the levels of proliferation and apoptosis of brain glioma cells, which can be used as valuable indexes for judging the pathological grade of brain glioma. ......