Purpose: To investigate the influencing factors in culturing Sprague-Dawley (S-D) rats retinal neurons in order to lay foundation for further experimental research. Materials and Methods: Retinal cells were plated on plastic plates and coverslips coated with poly-1-lysine or ethylene imine polymer for primary culture. The cultured cells were divided into following groups: 1. Culture medium changed every 2 to 3 days vs changed only once; 2. Cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) added to the culture medium vs not added. The cells were observed and pictured under inverted phase contrast microscope. The cells were identified through immunocytochemistry.Results: The immunofluorescence showed that most of the cultured cells were neurons, among them were a few retinal ganglion cells. In the cultured group of which substrata coated with poly-1-lysine and culture medium added with Ara-c, the neurons intended to aggregate into clusters with relatively straight neurites . In the group of which substrata coated with ethylen Purpose: To investigate the influencing factors in culturing Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats retinal neurons in order to lay foundation for further experimental research. Materials and Methods: Retinal cells were plated on plastic plates and coverslips coated with poly-1-lysine or ethylene imine polymer for primary culture. The cultured cells were divided into the following groups: 1. Culture medium changed every 2 to 3 days vs changed only once; 2. Cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) added to the culture medium vs not added. The cells The cells were identified through immunocytochemistry. Results: The immunofluorescence showed that most of the cultured cells were neurons, among them were a few retinal ganglion cells. In the cultured group of which substrata coated with poly -1-lysine and culture medium added with Ara-c, the neurons intended to aggregate into clusters with relatively straight neurites. In the group of which substrata c oated with ethylen