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Environmental and genetic factors influence the occurrence of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.Specific disease expression patts will help to elucidate the pathogenesis of disease.However, results obtained from animal models, which often exhibit organism specificity, do not fully explain the mechanisms of human spina bifida onset.In the present study, three embryos with a gestational age of approximately 17 weeks and a confirmed diagnosis of spina bifida, as well as 3 age-matched normal embryos, were obtained from abortions.Fetal brain stem tissues were dissected for RNA isolation, and microarray analyses were conducted to examine profiles of gene expression in brain stems of spina bifida and normal embryos using Affymetrix HG-U1 33A 2.0 GeneChip arrays.Of the 14 500 gene transcripts examined, a total of 182 genes exhibited at least 2.5-fold change in expression, including 140 upregulated and 42 downregulated genes.These genes were placed into 19 main functional categories according to the Gene Ontology Consortium database for biological functions.Of the 182 altered genes, approximately 50% were involved in cellular apoptosis, growth, adhesion, cell cycle, stress, DNA replication and repair, signal transduction, nervous system development, oxidoreduction, immune responses, and regulation of gene transcription.Gene expression in multiple biological pathways was altered in the brain stem of human spina bifida embryos.