In the present study, we assessed the efficiency of four BMSC transplantation methods as a therapy for liver failure. A rat model (80 Sprague-Dawley rats) of D-galactosamine (D-gal)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute liver failure (ALF) was established and the rats were divided into 5 groups: a hepatic artery injection group, a portal vein injection group, a vena caudalis injection group, an intraperitoneal injection group and a control group (16 per group). Following transplantation, the liver tissue and blood samples were collected on days 1, 3 and 7, we detected the EdU (5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine)-labeled cells homing to the liver tissue and assessed the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cysteine-containing aspartate-specific protease (caspase)-3 expression in the liver tissue and detected the levels of stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in the liver tissues. Compared with the control group, the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and damage to the liver tissue in the hepatic artery group, the portal vein group and the vena caudalis group improved in vivo. The expression of PCNA and HGF in the liver was higher and caspase-3 expression was lower in the hepatic artery injection group, the portal vein injection group and the vena caudalis injection group than that in the intraperitoneal injection and control groups. The EdU-labeled BMSCs were only observed homing to the liver tissue in these three groups. However, no significant differences were observed between these three groups. Liver function in the rats with ALF was improved following BMSC transplantation via 3 endovascular implantation methods (through the hepatic artery, portal vein and vena caudalis). These 3 methods were effective in transplanting BMSCs for the treatment of ALF. However, the selection of blood vessel in the implantation pathway does not affect the transplantation outcome. Transplantation via intraperitoneal injection showed no therapeutic effect in our animal experiments.