Objective To evaluate an effect of the vascularendothelial growth factor (VEGF) geneactivated matrix (GAM) on repair of the sciatic nerve defect in rats. Methods The peripheral nerve extracellular matrix（ECM） was harvested by the chemical extraction from 30 SD rats. The VEGF-GAM comprised of ECM and the plasmids encoding VEGF. Thirty adult Wistar rats were made as a model of the asciatic nerve defect and were randomly divided into the following 3 groups(n=10): Group A (VEGF-GAM conduits), Group B (ECM conduits),and Group C (autografts). At 12 weeks, the rats from each groupwere subjected to an inspection for the walking tract analysis and electrophysiological and histomorphological studies.Results The VEGF DNA could be retained in GAM, promoting the transgene expressing in the sciatic nerve, and more importantly, in the axotomized neurons in the spinal cord for 12 weeks. The motor neuron recovery rate in Group A (79.13％±2.53％) was similar to that in Group C (75.26％±4.48％, Pgt;0.05), but significantly better than that in Group B (56.09％±1.89％, Plt;0.01). The number of the regenerationaxons in the distal sciatic nerve in Group A (13 463±794/mm2) was significantly lower than that in Group C (16 809±680/mm2, Plt; 0.01), but significantly higher than that in Group B (10 260±1 117/mm2,Plt;0.01). The motor nerve conduction velocity in Group A (16.44±1.65 m/s) was significantly lowerthan that in Group C (23.79±2.75 m/s, Plt;0.01), but significantly higherthan that in Group B (12.8 ±1.42 m/s, Plt;0.01). The recovery rate of thegastrocnemius muscle wet weight in Group A (71.40％±3.05%) was significantlylower than that in Group C (87.00％±1.87％,Plt;0.01), but significantly higher than that in Group B (50.00％±4.90％, Plt;0.01). The sciatic nerve function index in Group A （39.37%±4.81%） was significantly lower 〖KG6〗than that in Group C (26.27%±2.71%, Plt;0.01), but significantly higher than that in Group B (4693％±296％, Plt;0.01). Conclusion The results indicate that VEGF-GAM as a bridge can promote the functional recovery of the defected sciatic nerve in rats, but the effect is not so good as that by autografts.