To explore the distribution and quantity changes of dentritic cells in rat regenerating liver and lay the foundation for researching their roles deeply in the process of regenerating liver. We make rat 2/3 hepatectomy model according to the method of Higgins et al, scatter liver cells by two-step perfusion, and isolate and purify dendritic cells by the way of percoll density gradient centrifugation and ox62 immunomagnetic beads. Immunocytochemistry method is used to qualitify and localize CD86 and CD103 cells in hepatic tissue, dispersed hepatic cells and purified dendritic cells. CD86 and CD103 are quantified by Western blot while their mRNA levels are quantified by RT-PCR. The results show that dendritic cells distribute in the hepatic sinusoids and round central veins and bile ducts at 0 h, and far from central veins and bile ducts at 12 h. At 24 h they diffuse in the whole liver. Their distribution at 168h is similar to that at 0 h. The average numbers of dendritic cells obtained from rat regenerating liver at 0, 2, 6, 12, 24, 30, 36, 72, 120 and 168 h post partial hepatectomy are 1.55×106, 1.59×106, 1.87×106, 2.46×106, 1.49×106, 2.73×106, 3.87×106, 6.04×106, 6.52×106 and 8.40×106, respectively. The percentage of CD86 and CD103-postive cells and viability of dendritic cells are both more than 95%. These results indicate that the distribution of dendritic cells gradually disperse from the hepatic sinusoids and regions round central veins and bile ducts to the whole liver, reach peak at 24 h, and then fall back to the same level as 0 h at 168 h; the number of purified dendritic cells increases in a time-dependent manner.