Compared with those in normal tissues, the expression of miR-26a in lung tissues of neonatal rats with RDS was significantly decreased (p<0.05), while the expression of GSK-3β messenger RNAs (mRNAs) was notably increased (p<0.01), and the GSK-3β expression was negatively correlated with the miR-26a expression (r=-0.6693, p=0.0064).