Objective To study the expression and its significance of bcl-2 associated death (bad) gene in human optic nerves from traumatic atrophic eyeballs. Methods The optic nerves from 8 normal human donor eyes and 31 traumatic atrophic eyes were studied by immunohistochemistry technique. Results Bad protein was positively expressed in the normal optic nerve myelin sheath and residual myelin portions of optic nerve tissues from traumatic atrophic eyes. The expression of bad protein in the residual portions of myelin sheath was stained significantly ber than that in normal optic nerves (P＜0.05)。The pathological durations for ocular atrophy was not co-related with the quantites of expression of bad protein. There was no significant difference between pathogenic causes of ocular atrophies and the quantites of bad expression (P＞0.05). Conclusion Bad might possess the function of promoting the optic nerve atrophy processes in traumatic atrophic eyes. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2002, 18: 276-278)