Objective To investigate the effects of plasma from patients with chronic severe hepatitis on C3A cell line in vitro, which can provide experimental data for C3A cell derived bioartificial liver. Methods C3A cells were cultured in normal human plasma(NHP) and chronic severe hepatitis plasma(CSHP). We detected the cell activity by MTT, protein synthetic rate by 3H-leucine incorporation, albumin synthesis by western blot. Results ① The activities of C3A cells cultured in CSHP were higher than that in NHP for successive 5 days ( P<0.01); ② The protein synthetic rates of C3A cells in CSHP for 48h were higher than that in NHP( P<0.01); ③ The expressions of albumin by Western-blot in C3A cells cultured in CSHP for 24h were much more than that in NHP. Conclusion CSHP can promote the proliferation and synthesis of C3A cell．