MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding regulatory RNAs that regulate protein expression by reducing mRNA stability and/or translation, via base pairing with full or partial sequence‑complementary target mRNAs. Recent evidence indicates that miRNAs have roles as tumor suppressors and oncogenes. The members of the miRNA181 (miR181) family have been reported to be downregulated in early stage human glioma, and to be involved in glioma development. The current study demonstrated that all subtypes of the miRNA 181 family were downregulated at stages of human glioma, including miR181a1, a2, b1, b2, c and d. In the present study, the family members were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction in glioma tissues of different stages. miR181c declined the most in the samples from patients with World Health Organization (WHO) grade I glioma. As glioma development progressed from grade I to IV, the expression of miRN181 family members continued to decline, with miR181b1 exhibiting the fastest decline rate. Furthermore, a lentivirus was used to overexpress miR181c in primary glioma cells; the result indicated that miR181c overexpression was able to significantly inhibit glioma cell proliferation. Thus, miR181 may be a useful biomarker for human glioma at early stages. Detection of the level of miR181 family members may be a potential method for glioma diagnosis, determining the tumor WHO grade and guiding clinical treatment.