Abstract: Objective To systematically evaluate the similarity and discrepancy of eight different Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum by principal component analysis (PCA) which could accelerate the proliferation of the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells cultured in vitro and their differentiation toward osteoblasts.Methods Seventy-two female SD rats were divided into nine groups randomly,one normal group given water and eight administrated group.Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum was classified by growth and processes.Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were exposed to different culture medium containing different Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum serum.The activities of osteoblastic markers such as alkaline phosphatase(ALP),bone gla protein(BGP),bone morphogenetic protein 2(BMP-2) were detected by ELISA.Cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay.The principal component analysis was applied to study characteristic of velvet antler based on the indexes mentioned above.Results PCA analysis of absorbance value(A) and ALP can distinguish wax slices from blood slices and bone slices.The accuracy of the discriminant analysis was 100% for A and ALP.Conclusion This method can be used to evaluate the quality of Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum.

Key words: Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum, Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), Principal component analysis(PCA)