Abstract:Objective To explore the effects of 2, 4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) on expression of Dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) in the locus coeruleus (LC) rats. Methods A total of 307-days-old neonatal rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: group 1 in which maternal rats received 70 mg/kg/day of 2, 4-D for 14 consecutive days (n = 10), group 2 in which maternal rats received 100 mg/kg/day of 2, 4-D for14 consecutive days (n = 10), and control group in which maternal rats did not receive any insults (n = 10). All neonatal rats were breast feeding. Offsprings were sacrificed 22 days after birth and midbrains were harvested for immunohistochemistry staining. Results Rats in group 2 showed a significant reduction of body weight and brain weight when compared with control group (35.60 ± 2.84 g vs 47.21 ± 2.90 g, P = 0.000, 1.16 ± 0.05 g vs 1.33 ± 0.04 g, P = 0.000, respectively). Expression of DBH decreased significantly in group 1 and group 2 when compared with control group (0.21 ± 0.03 vs 0.88 ± 0.38, 0.19 ± 0.02 vs 0.88 ± 0.38, P = 0.000, respectively). Conclusion 2,4-D inhibits the activity of DBH, leading to the decrease of Noradrenaline in the LC of the pups and damage to the nervous system.