OBJECTIVE: To screen and identify differentially expressed genes in the hippocampus of the offsprings of lead exposed female rats in order to provide a theoretical basis for identifying learning and memory deficits related genes. METHODS: RNA was extracted from the hippocampus of young rats with learning and memory deficits due to maternal lead exposure. Suppression subtractive hybridization was used to identify the differentially expressed genes in the hippocampus. RESULTS: An effective subtracted library was constructed which consisted of approximately 200 clones. Sequencing for the library identified 93 clones harboring insertion fragments which included 43 different genes and 4 unknown genes. These genes might be related to learning and memory deficits due to maternal lead exposure. CONCLUSIONS: The up-regulated genes in the hippocampus of young rats from pregnant rats under lead exposure include some housekeeping genes and some proteins involved in cellular protein folding, signal transduction, stress response and DNA methylation. These proteins might be directly related to a significant reduction in learning and memory abilities in the young rats. ［Chin J Contemp Pediatr, 2010, 12 (10):820-824］