Abstract： Objective To evaluate and compare the adult neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from the subventricular zone (SVZ), adipose tissue (AD) and bone marrow (BM) in SD rat in terms of their morphologies, their potential of neural differentiation and their ability to secrete neurotrophins (NTs).Methods Tissues from the suventricular zone, adipose tissue and bone marrow in the same SD rat were chosen and induced in vitro into SVZ-NSCs, AD-NSCs and BM-NSCs, respectively. The abilities of proliferation and differentiation of these 3 NSCs were compared. Immunocytochemistry and Western blotting were employed to detect the expressions of surface markers of neurons and neuroglia, including nestin,βtubulin, galactocerebroside C (GalC) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The secretions of BDNF and NGF were detected by ELIS A. Results No obvious differences of morphology between SVZ-NSCs and both BM-NSCs and AD-NSCs were found (P>0.05). The proliferation ability of SVZ-NSCs was stronger than that of BM-NSCs and AD-NSCs. The percentage of nestin-positive cells in the SVZ-NSCs was significantly higher than that in the BM-NSCs or AD-NSCs (P<0.05). No obvious differences in the expressions of βtubulin, GFAP, and GalC among the 3 groups were found (P>0.05).The secretions of BDNF and NGF in all the 3 groups could be noted; those in the SVZ-NSCs was significantly higher than those in the BM-NSCs and AD-NSCs (P<0.05); those in the AD-NSCs was slightly higher than those in the BM-NSCs. Conclusions SVZ-NSCs, AD-NSCs and BM-NSCs show similar morphological and phenotypic characteristics; however, SVZ-NSCs present more powerful proliferation, differentiation and secretion abilities than AD-NSCs and BM-NSCs. Considering about such problems as immuno-repulsion, ethic and the origins, AD-NSCs appear to be the better choice than BSVZ-NSCs and M-NSCs.