Retinoic acid (RA) is a biologically active form of vitamin A. Teratogenicity has been observed in pregnant mammals exposed to high doses of vitamin A. We investigated the distribution of nitrergic neurons in rat prefrontal cortex (PFC) at developmental stages 7 days to young adulthood under physiological conditions and after prenatal application of all trans-RA. The neurons were studied histochemically using NADPH-diaphorase, which stains neurons dark blue. We found that nitrergic neurons differentiate rapidly and reach structural maturity by the end of the second week of postnatal development. We found that the processes of the neurons of nitrergic neurons of 14-day-old rats in the RA group were shorter than those of the control group. Our findings suggest that excess RA during the prenatal period may influence the development and morphology of NADPH-diaphorase positive neurons, probably by RA-specific receptors in the PFC of 14-day-old rats. RA receptors may be the main effector molecules responsible for the changes of dendrite length induced by all-trans RA. During later development, changes are not observed, probably due to maturation of the nervous system.

维甲酸（RA）是维生素A的一种生物活性形式。已在暴露于高剂量维生素A的怀孕哺乳动物中观察到致畸性。我们研究了幼龄7天发育前阶段大鼠额叶皮层（PFC）中硝化神经元的分布。成年后在生理条件下和产前应用所有反式RA。使用NADPH-黄递酶对神经元进行组织化学研究，该酶将神经元染成深蓝色。我们发现，产后发育的第二周结束时，硝酸能神经元迅速分化并达到结构成熟。我们发现，RA组的14日龄大鼠硝化神经元的神经元过程比对照组短。我们的发现表明，产前期过量的RA可能会影响14天大的大鼠PFC中的RA特异性受体，从而影响NADPH-黄递酶阳性神经元的发育和形态。RA受体可能是负责全反式RA诱导的树突长度变化的主要效应分子。在以后的发育过程中，未观察到变化，可能是由于神经系统的成熟。