Objective To study the relationship between expression of miR-182 in prefrontal cor-tex and alcohol dependence in rats and explore the possible mechanism. Methods Totals of 60 rats were randomly divided into 3 groups：continuous alcohol group （n=20），withdrawal group （n=20）and control group（n=20）. Lavage was used to build alcohol dependence model. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-182 and BDNF mRNA in prefrontal cortex of alcohol dependent rats. Pearson analysis wascarried out to analyse the correlation between expression of miR-182 and BDNF mRNA. Results The expres-sion of miR-182 was significantly different among three groups（F=44.79，P＜0.01）. Significant differences were found between each two groups （P＜ 0.05）. Compared with control group，the expression of BDNF mRNA was significantly decreased in continuous alcohol group （P＜ 0.05）. The expression of miR-182 and BDNF mRNA was not correlated（P＜ 0.05）. Conclusions The expression of miR-182 in prefrontal cortex of alcohol depen-dent rats is decreased. miR-182 may be involoved in the pathogenesis of alcohol dependence.