Objective To analysis the relationship between the expression of retinoic acid receptor α/β (RARα/β) and β-catenin genes and the neural tube defects(NTDs) induced by retinoic acid (RA) in Kunming (KM) mouse.Methods One hundred KM mice were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The expression of β-catenin mRNA was measured by RT-PCR. Western blotting was used to detecte the protein expression of RARα/β and β-catenin. Results RA treatment resulted in a decreased expression of RARα /β at the 18th, the 42th hour (P<0.01) and an increased expression of RARβ at the 66th, the 90th hour (EM>P/EM><0.05) after treatment. No significant difference in RARα protein was noted at the 66th, the 90th hour between the experimental and control groups. RA treatment resulted in a significant decrease in β-catenin mRNA at the 4th, the 18th hour (EM>P/EM><0.05) and a significant increase at the 66th hour (P<0.05) after treatment, no significant difference in β-catenin mRNA was noted at the 42nd hour between RA and vehicle treated groups. In addition, the expression of β-catenin protein was significantly decreased at the 18th, the 42th hour (EM>P/EM><0.01) and significantly increased at the 90th hour (P<0.01) after RA treatment compared to the control groups, no significa