Abstract Objective To study the diversity expression of NMDAR1、Caspase-3 in spinal cord ischemia injury. Method Fourty-eight rabbits were randomly devided into six groups as follows:sham-operated group and operated groups(n=8 at each time point) at designated times(6、12、24、48、72 hours after the surgery).The ischemia model was developed by selectively ligation of the five lubar arteries just inferior to the left renal vein and above the bifurcation. The mRNA and protein expression of NMDAR1、Caspase-3 in differerent times after the surgery were separately detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction( RT-PCR) and Western-blot ;at the same time ,where the NMDAR1、Caspase-3 located in the cell was detected by immunohischemistry. Results Compared with sham group，the level of NMDAR1、Caspase-3 in mRNA and protein was signifantly higher in the operated groups，there was significant difference between the two groups；meanwhile, NMDAR1、Caspase-3 expression in the spinal cord ischemia injury was time-related, the longer the ischemia time,the more expression of NMDAR1、Caspase-3 in spinal cord.; the correlation analysis indicated that there were positive correlation relation between NMDAR1 mRNA（r=0.947,p<0.005） and protein（r=0.984,p<0.005） in the same time. The NMDAR1、Caspase-3 protein was mainly located in the cytoplasm. Conclusion The expression of NMDAR1 、Caspase-3 during the spinal cord ischemia injury was time-related.This study indicated that NMDAR1、Caspase-3 were two important elements during the spinal cord ischemia.