Fig. 3

miRNAs expressed differentially between control and alcohol-treated groups. a Heatmap described from the two-way hierarchical clustering analyses of differentially expressed (more than 1.5 fold) miRNAs among groups. The hippocampi of four rats in each group were used for the miRNA array. b Venn diagram showing the number of differentially expressed miRNAs between two groups. MA, male alcohol-treated group; MC, male control group; FA, female alcohol-treated group; FC, female control group. c Comparison of miRNA expression in the male control and alcohol-treated rats. d Comparison of miRNA expression in the female control and alcohol-treated rats. e Validation of 3 miRNAs upregulated in alcohol-treated male rats (n = 4) compared to the control male rats (n = 4) using RT-qPCR. f Validation of 2 miRNAs downregulated in alcohol-treated female rats (n = 4) compared to the control female rats (n = 4) using RT-qPCR. *Significantly different from control group in each sex (*p < 0.05)